Pokemon: White as Lightning
by icepelt2000
Summary: Hilda and Oshawott have difficulty catching their first Pokemon, and they can't let their friends have the last laugh. But then they happen upon a rare Pokemon- one that brings the nature of the world into question.
1. Chapter 1

**Pokemon belongs to Nintendo and Game Freak, but I hope you know that.**

 **Due to my excitement and ignorance when starting this story, the protagonist's name may be inaccurate in some places, being written as "Lindsay" instead of "Hilda". I've scoured through to correct this, but let me know if you spot any more of those.**

 **With that, I hope you enjoy. :)**

Chapter One: Happy Birthday

Hilda, Cheren and Bianca stared at the box in front of them. It was purple, with a reddish-pink ribbon tying it together. The box was rather unassuming upon first inspection. Hilda thought as much when she found it in her room. The card that had come with it was certainly confusing, but it did send a flicker of anticipation and excitement into her stomach. She knew that her best friends would think so as well, and she had her mom invite them over immediately.

"So...what did the card say again?" Bianca asked.

Hilda pulled it out of her shorts pocket, opening it up. " 'Dear Hilda, Cheren and Bianca'," she read aloud, " 'We have been discussing this arrangement for a really long time, at least over two years. Since Hilda's home is closest to mine, I decided that I would deliver your gifts to her mother. Please decide in an organized manner as to who should get which gift. Happy birthday, at least for the start of your adventures. Signed...Professor Juniper'."

"Professor Juniper?" Cheren parroted, fixing his glasses. "So these must be Starter Pokemon!"

The three of them tore the box open, halting before they set the lid or wrapping paper down. There they were, three spheres the size of baseballs, with red on top, white on the bottom, and round buttons on the front. Three Poke Balls, each one holding a Unova starter Pokemon.

They'd all heard stories of kids their age going on adventures with Pokemon. Almost everyone in the world got along with the mysterious powerful creatures to some degree. Some people used them as workers, carrying heavy loads and clearing wood for housing. Others used them as mere companions. But kids their age had eyes on the Pokemon League, battling to the top to get the chance of facing the Champion. Cheren had had his eyes on that for years, and it had crossed Hilda's mind more than once, but never for long.

They were all old enough for a grand journey now. They had known that it had to be coming any day. But it felt unreal, as if they were sitting in someone else's room, looking at Pokemon that weren't supposed to go to them. These couldn't be for them, could they?

"Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, is this really happening?" Bianca gasped, practically shaking. "Are we really getting Pokemon?"

"They're here, aren't they?" Hilda replied quietly. "They're ours."

Cheren was quiet for a moment, staring in awe at the three Poke Balls in front of them. What else could they say about it?

The three of them then giggled madly. Yes, this had to be real! The Pokemon were right there! All they had to do was choose now.

"Okay, remember, we have to settle any arguments like adults," Hilda decided. "No arguing or bickering or anything like that."

"Well, these were brought to your house," Bianca noted. "So you can have the first pick."

Hilda crept closer to the box, observing the labels just in front of the Poke Balls. This might be the hardest decision of her life. Which Pokemon would fit well with her? Which could she effectively grow with on a long journey? She took a close look at the labels in order to decide.

The first one said it held a female Snivy, a grass type which was a bit sassy and stubborn. Training Snivy sounded like a challenge, and Hilda wanted to be prepared for challenges. But what if the Pokemon ended up bossing her around?

The second one said it held a male Oshawott, a water type that was silly and slightly clumsy. That was the description of a child. Hilda didn't want to look after a child, especially if it would bring out her childish traits. But maybe they would interact well with each other, and grow up together along the way.

The third one said it held a male Tepig, a fire type that was strong if a bit timid. Hilda liked the idea of a strong Pokemon as her starter. They could blow everyone away with their great power. Oh, but if it was timid, she didn't want to push it too hard, even with the weaker Pokemon.

She looked over the options again. After mulling it over, Hilda chose the second Poke Ball, pressing the button and releasing the creature from the capsule. A white light sprung forth, and in another moment, a Pokemon was released. Oshawott had a light blue body with a white head and arms, his tail, feet and ears having the same dark blue hue. He twitched his brown nose, trying to strike a pose and nearly falling over. Hilda let out a sigh. This one was definitely hers in spirit.

"Hi, Oshawott," Hilda told him. "I guess we're partners, now."

Bianca clapped her hands together. "He looks great, Hilda," she insisted. "And I think I'll take...Tepig!"

She snatched up the third Poke Ball, pressing it and releasing the creature inside. Tepig had a mostly orange body, with a few bits of brown on his lower side and ears. He looked frightened to be out of the Poke Ball, probably only used to the walls of Professor Juniper's lab.

"Yes, this one's mine!" Bianca cheered, scooping him into her arms. The Tepig struggled for a bit, then settled in and buried his snout under her armpit. Geez, barely a minute together, and they were already inseparable.

"How come you got to go next?" Cheren sighed. "Never mind, I wanted Snivy anyway."

He picked up the first Poke Ball, pressing it and releasing the Pokemon. Snivy was very lizard-like, dark and light greens making up her leafy body. She flicked her tail and crossed her arms impatiently, waiting for something to happen.

Hilda looked at Bianca and Cheren, studying the Pokemon they'd chosen. Both Bianca and Tepig had this unsure demeanor about them, and Cheren and Snivy both appeared to be eager to go out and do something. Hilda hadn't thought of it before, but they were practically mirror images of each other.

"Does Oshawott look similar to me?" Hilda found herself asking.

"That's a weird question to ask," Cheren thought. "But...kind of. You have that similar head-cock."

Hilda looked at Oshawott, noticing this head tilt. She suddenly realized that she was doing the same thing and straightened herself out.

"It's nothing to worry about, honestly," Bianca giggled. "It means you made a good choice."

"I guess so," Hilda shrugged, pulling brown hair out of her face. "We haven't had a chance to tell quite yet."

"That's right, we've only just chosen them. Hey, let's have a battle right now!"

Cheren stood up indignantly. "Not in here! Think of the mess!" he yelled.

"No, we should do it," Hilda agreed. "If we were drawn to the Starters we chose based on who we are, what better way to confirm that than with a battle? And because it's our first one, nothing too bad should happen."

The two girls sat up. Bianca set Tepig on the ground, standing awkwardly by the door. "My move. Um... Tepig, tackle Oshawott!"

Tepig balked for a moment, but then he rushed forward, ramming his body into Oshawott. Oshawott fell down, flat on his back. He writhed there for a moment until he was able to right himself.

"Tackle back! Don't let him get the best of you!" Hilda commanded.

Oshawott ran forward, head-butting Tepig. He fell back down, but he managed to send Tepig rolling into the bookshelf. A couple books fell off, sending Cheren scattering toward the window.

"Um, uh...tackle back again!" Bianca shouted.

Tepig got to his feet, running forward with greater speed. He collided into Oshawott, the two of them crashing into the entertainment system. The television rocked a bit before falling over, just barely caught by a timid Bianca. Hilda let out a yelp, pressing the Poke Ball and dragging Oshawott back in it, ensuring that he didn't get hit by any falling electronics. She ran to the opposite side, holding the television up that way in order to protect Tepig. Wow, it was remarkably heavy. How did they manage to get it up here the first time?

"Bianca, get your Poke Ball out!" Hilda told her.

"The-the TV's too heavy! I can't!" Bianca cried. "Cheren! Help!"

"Snivy! Pull Tepig out of there!" Cheren commanded.

Snivy let out a huff, scurrying over to Tepig's side. She grabbed him by his curly tail, pulling him out of the way. At that point, Hilda and Bianca dropped the television. There was an odd crash sound that came once they dropped it, one that made Hilda sick with worry. She noticed that a few knick knacks had fallen off, one chandelure figurine losing some pieces. And her charizard figurine. And her lucario figurine. But at least her pikachu figurine seemed safe for the most part. She just hoped that the television wasn't too badly damaged.

"Hilda! What's going on up there?" her mom shouted from the living room.

Hilda covered her mouth with her hands. She looked at the damage in fear.

Bianca put her hands into pockets on her white skirt. "In hindsight, I don't think we know _how_ to battle," she muttered.

"Oh no oh no, Mom's going to kill me," Hilda gasped.

"And just before your big journey, too..."

Cheren shook his head, and Snivy emulated his behavior. "Next time, you should listen to me about not battling inside," he argued. "Let's just explain calmly what happened. Your mom will understand, I promise."

Hilda straightened out, finding that her limbs were shaking. "Yeah, you're right. What's the worst that she can do?" she decided. "Let's go down."

She went first, her head hung low in fear and shame. Hilda walked down the stairs, stopping just before the bottom. Her mother stood right before her, hands on her hips and looking just above her.

"There...was an accident," Hilda muttered. "We accidentally knocked the TV over."

Pounding footsteps came forth, and Bianca scooted up next to her. "It was all my fault! Blame me!" she cried. "I was the one who wanted to battle with our new Pokemon! Cheren told us not to, but I went ahead and goaded Hilda into it! Don't be too hard on her, please!"

Cheren walked down much more slowly, adding, "I wanted to do the talking."

Hilda's mother fixed the skirt of her dress. "...You only get to be children once," she muttered. "Don't worry about a thing. I'll clean up after you once you head out. You have more important things to worry about now."

"Wait, you want us to be like children?" Hilda asked. "But this journey is our chance to grow up."

"That's not quite what I meant. Yes, this journey is supposed to be your chance to grow up. But you're allowed to have fun as well. And even if that wasn't the case, then having a battle like that is the last opportunity of fun you'll have before real work begins."

Bianca adjusted her green beret. "She's right, being a Trainer is a hard job," she realized. "Gaining a Pokemon's trust, getting them stronger, and taking on the Gyms...I don't think I'd qualify. And I don't even know if he'll let me..."

"Don't worry about that," Cheren insisted. "No one can stop you now."

"Anyway, I'm not mad," Hilda's mother continued. "I want you three to have fun on your journey. Oh, I was preparing a going-away bag of goodies for you three. They're in the kitchen. I'll go get them."

Hilda's mother left for a short minute. The three of them made their way into the living room, taking a seat on the couch. None of them said a word. All fear and excitement from earlier had faded. Now there was just the rumination. What was their journey going to be about? What part of themselves would they try to seek out? For Cheren, it had to undoubtedly be to become the Champion. It was a very high goal to achieve, but Cheren had always fancied himself to be an over-achiever. For Bianca, it was a little more uncertain. She hadn't displayed any firm interest in any job, so her journey might be to figure out what she wanted to do. Hilda wasn't sure what she wanted quite yet. But she was very excited about meeting new Pokemon.

Her mother returned, handing them each a small bag of berries. "These will help your Pokemon in a variety of ways," she told them. "I think you'll find the Sitrus berries quite handy."

"Thanks, Mom," Hilda cheered. "We'll find a way to use them, I promise."

"So what do you think we should do?" Bianca asked. "I know we're off on a journey now, but, like, where do we begin?"

"I say we go to Professor Juniper," Cheren explained. "She knows everything. She ought to know what to do."

Hilda's mother crossed her arms, smiling. "That sounds like a great idea," she agreed. "I think Professor Juniper said that she would be meeting you at Route 1, on the way to Accumula Town. She had a lot to discuss with you about the start of your journey."

"Yeah, let's go talk to her!" Bianca cheered.

The three of them got up off the couch, heading over to the kitchen table. They collected their bags, preparing to head off. Hilda set her pink bag over her shoulder, putting the berries on an inside pocket and setting the Poke Ball on an outside pocket. She was all set to go, practically.

Cheren was the first to leave, as seemed a habit of his when he was ready to do something. Bianca held the door open after him, balking for some reason. She slammed the door shut, running back into the living room. Hilda rushed to her side, setting a hand on her shoulder.

"What is it?" Hilda asked.

"H-He's looking for me," Bianca stammered. "I saw him heading this way. He'd never let me go if I told him what I was doing."

"Well honey, you should just be honest with him," Hilda's mother insisted. "People appreciate honesty."

Bianca shook her head. "I-I don't know how to tell him."

Hilda set her hands on her hips, a smirk on her face. "I've got an idea," she decided. "I'll tell him for you!"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: First Steps Together

The girls did a clothes swap, to a varying degree of success. Bianca's clothes were slightly baggy on Hilda, and Bianca looked awkward in the more sporty attire. They had collected their hair up into their hats, knowing that it would be a dead giveaway if the Bianca coming out wasn't blonde. The white bag was set on Hilda's shoulder, and they were all set to go.

"I'll do the talking for you, don't worry," Hilda promised.

"Yeah, just stay quiet and keep your eyes low so he doesn't notice," Bianca added.

"Head straight for the Professor's Lab, and I'll meet you there."

They shook hands, and Bianca opened the door once again.

The figure of a man stood before them, but because Bianca was right in front of her, Hilda couldn't see him clearly. From what she could tell, he was angry.

"Hilda, this doesn't concern you," he said as calmly as he could. "Go off with you friend."

Bianca gave a brisk nod, hurrying off. Now Hilda faced a behemoth of a man. He was balding, slightly wrinkled with age. He frowned at her, arms crossed. It was as if he expected her to do something. And truth be told, Hilda wasn't sure what to say.

Bianca's father had always frightened Hilda when she was younger. Every time she came over to hang out, he was always looming over them with an unapprovingly stern attitude. They'd play an RPG video game when he'd say "Isn't that inappropriate?" They'd breeze through catalogs of models when he'd spit, "The only models those are are bad role models." And whenever a Pokemon Spotlight feature came on the television, he'd grumble, "Those idiots don't know what they're doing with those monsters." He always had an idea of what Bianca shouldn't be doing, expecting her to follow what he wanted. And whenever they disagreed, he put on this exact stance he showed Hilda now. It was a stance of anger, and anything could come from it if he was pushed hard enough.

"I heard that Professor Juniper gave you kids a gift," Bianca's father began. "Might I see it?"

Hilda stood still for a moment, but then she complied. She pulled the Poke Ball out of a pocket, but only dragged it out halfway.

"She did it," Bianca's father gasped. "And without consulting me on the matter. That Professor doesn't know how to raise my daughter."

Hilda hoped that he didn't notice the difference. When he was upset, he thankfully didn't pay too much attention to certain things. And Bianca's timid stance was easy to replicate because Hilda herself was timid right now.

"Could I see that a bit closer?" he asked.

Hilda shook her head. "This is good enough," she whispered in a small voice.

"You don't know what you're doing with that creature. Pokemon are dangerous. You could get really hurt out there. I don't want that happening to my little girl."

"I'll learn how to control it. I'll make it trust me. I'll be okay, I promise."

Bianca's father relaxed just a bit. "I'll talk with your mother about this," he grumbled.

He left in a huff. Hilda straightened out, sighing in relief. Her mother came to her side, giggling.

"My silly girl," she mused.

"It wasn't silly," Hilda growled.

"You know, it was Bianca's problem to handle."

"We both know she'd give in to his demands. I couldn't let him stop her."

Hilda's mom scratched her head. "Yes, that seems to be the case. He was the most defiant in our decision to give you Pokemon, insisting 'She's too small! She can't handle it!' He lost the vote, as you can see."

"Why doesn't he like Pokemon? They're a part of Unova and this world no matter where you go."

Her mother shook her head. "A bad experience, maybe? It's hard to say. But he's right, just a little. Pokemon can be dangerous. Some more vicious ones will attack you on sight. And that's exactly why we need Pokemon. They can protect us and keep us safe in the wild. And we all need to go on some kind of journey in our lives. This will really help Bianca, I just know it."

"You didn't need to tell me that."

"It'll help you too. You can figure out what you want to do in life as well, and find the part of you that you can't grow up until you have."

Hilda gave her mother a big hug. "I have to meet up with Bianca now. I'll call you as much as I can, I promise."

"Do you have your XTransceiver charged?"

"All the time."

"Is it turned on?"

Hilda grabbed her Poketch, looking at it. She grimaced, turning the XTransceiver on. "Now it is."

"Have fun, sweetie. I hope your journey is everything you want it to be."

Hilda waved her goodbye, making her way to the Professor's Lab.

* * *

She and Bianca switched into their original attire. Hilda felt good to be back into her tank top and shorts, as well as her ball cap. Bianca looked just about the same. They walked out of the lab together, greeted by an impatient Cheren.

"Sorry, we had to divert a crisis," Hilda told him.

"Was it Bianca's dad?" Cheren asked.

"It was," Bianca muttered. "I still can't believe he didn't press any further on the issue. Don't worry though; I'm still joining you guys!"

Cheren nodded. "Let's get going, then. Professor Juniper is waiting for us."

The three of them walked along the road out of Nuvema Town, scaring off a flock of pidoves on their way. They stopped just before the town sign, looking at the road and tall grass beyond. Professor Juniper wasn't too far away, standing next to a tree with a gray-furred minccino. This was it; this was the start of their adventure.

"Hey, let's grab hands," Bianca insisted. "It's our first step. We should take it together."

"I guess so. It's the biggest experience of our lives, after all," Cheren agreed.

Bianca took the center, grabbing Hilda's right hand and taking Cheren's left hand. Together, they crossed the border of Nuvema Town, heading straight onto Route 1. Hilda waved Professor Juniper over, and she came walking toward them.

Professor Juniper turned out to be a sophisticated if eccentric lady. She had a yellow dress underneath her large white lab coat. Her hair was in a bun, being pulled out by the playful minccino on her shoulder. She greeted them with a smile, pulling a bag closer to them.

"Greetings children!" Professor Juniper smiled. "I trust you took your gifts well."

"Yeah, it was really nice of you!" Hilda cheered.

"May I see the ones you've chosen, by chance?"

They opened their Poke Balls, releasing the Pokemon inside. The Pokemon stood closer to the children's feet than they did before, Oshawott practically clinging to Hilda's calf. Professor Juniper appeared surprised, but she was still happy.

"It seems you're bonding faster than I thought," Professor Juniper noted. "This is wonderful. It'll help you a lot on your journey."

"Thank you for this experience, ma'am," Bianca insisted, picking up Tepig. "We won't let you down."

"You look like you have something to ask us," Cheren thought. "What is it?"

Professor Juniper pulled out three small devices, each with a Poke Ball symbol on the front. "I have a request to ask you," she began. "One of my jobs is to record data from Pokemon all across the region. I sometimes try and collect data on my own, but it's hard work being the only one to do it. Since you're all on your journey, would you mind helping me fill the Pokedex?"

That sounded like a high order. Dozens of different Pokemon lived in Unova, and that wasn't even considering the ones in faraway regions like Kanto and Sinnoh. But it did sound like a good idea to know which Pokemon they were catching.

"I'll help you," Hilda decided, taking a Pokedex.

"I can try my best," Bianca decided, taking one as well.

Cheren didn't say anything, but he took the last Pokedex as well.

"I also have these for you," Professor Juniper added. She dug through her bag, finding fifteen Poke Balls. She handed five to each of them.

"Oh, are we learning to catch Pokemon?" Bianca gasped. "This is so exciting!"

"You'll find many Pokemon hiding in tall grass, and sometimes in caves or bodies of water. Fighting wild ones will help you Pokemon grow in power and experience, but for now we need to focus on catching them. The key is to whittle their energy down far enough so the Poke Ball can capture them. Let me show you."

They walked through the grass, Professor Juniper leading the way. Rustling in the grass stopped them in their tracks, and a brown rodent with scary red eyes jumped out. The Pokedex recognized it as a patrat.

"Go Minccino!" Professor Juniper called out.

Minccino leapt off of the professor's shoulder, jumping in front of the patrat. The patrat leapt forward, biting him on a big ear.

"Minccino, use Swift!" Professor Juniper shouted.

Minccino flicked his tail, and a light came forth. This light condensed into stars, shooting at the patrat and hitting it. The patrat fell down for a moment, staggering back up. It limped a little, but it still wanted to fight.

"This should be good enough," Professor Juniper decided. She pulled a Poke Ball from her bag, throwing it at the patrat. The Pokeball hit it square on the head, popping open. A white light enveloped the patrat, dragging it inside. The Poke Ball sealed shut, shaking for a moment until it eventually clicked. A white light enveloped the Poke Ball, teleporting it away.

"Whoa! Where'd it go!?" Hilda gasped.

"You can only carry six Pokemon in your party, which I do have," Professor Juniper explained. "The patrat was transported to the Pokemon Storage System, which can be accessed from the PC in any Pokemon Center. Speaking of which, Accumula Town isn't far from here. I believe that is our next stop on this lesson."

"You go on ahead, if you may," Cheren insisted. "I want to see if I can catch Pokemon now."

"Just as well. Accumula Town is just up the road, and I'll be waiting for you there."

Professor Juniper waved them goodbye, picking up Minccino and setting off on her way. Hilda, Cheren and Bianca waved to her, coming together to determine what to do next.

"You know, I'm not sure if I could do that," Hilda admitted. "I didn't like seeing the patrat limp like that."

"Patrats are feisty. All wild Pokemon are feisty," Cheren promised her. "It would've wanted to go down fighting."

"Maybe. Even if that's the case, I don't think I know how to battle Pokemon just yet. You saw what happened earlier."

"Well that's why we're staying back for now. Catching Pokemon gives us practice in battling as well."

Bianca jumped up in excitement. "Hey, let's have a competition!" she decided. "Whoever catches the most Pokemon before entering Accumula Town is the winner!"

"A childish game like that?" Hilda shrugged. "What's the prize?"

"Umm...bragging rights? Oh oh, I've got it! The loser must pay for dinner tonight!"

"Ugh, how petty."

Cheren fixed his glasses. "It'll help us complete the Pokedex, though. I'm in," he decided.

"I'll see if I have enough for dinner, then," Bianca sighed.

"If Hilda's set on not battling Pokemon, she'll have to pay."

Hilda clenched her fists. "Hey, I never said that!" she argued. "I'm in, too. I'll collect so many Pokemon, it'll make your eyes bleed!"

The three of them split up, agreeing to meet at the edge of Accumula Town. Hilda's face burned with embarrassment and anger. She would find a way to catch Pokemon. There just had to be a better way than battling them.

Oshawott traveled right behind her, nearly tripping a couple times. Hilda picked him up, surprised at how heavy he was. "Alright Oshawott, let's catch a lot of Pokemon today," she told him. "I want to fill up our party."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: A Rare Catch

Hilda took three berries out of her bag, placing them near a patch of grass. She ordered Oshawott to sit near it, keeping hidden. Once a Pokemon came near it, he would chase it off, hopefully steering it into her bag. Hilda expected mostly patrats or purrloins in this area, small ones that were likely to fit inside.

In a few moments, a lillipup emerged from the grass. His furry white snout nosed at the berries, curious about them. He didn't seem like one to avoid food, and began nibbling at one berry. It was at this point that Oshawott emerged from his hiding spot, growling and snarling, puffing himself out so he appeared bigger. The lillipup was terrified, and he ran away from him. Oshawott tripped as he ran, but the lillipup didn't need any motivation to keep going. It blindly ran straight for Hilda, who promptly scooped him up into her bag.

"Got one! Great job, Oshawott!" Hilda cheered.

Oshawott jumped up, cheering along with her.

She set the bag upright, holding it high above the ground. The lillipup scrambled a bit, but stayed put when it realized how high up it was.

"Hi there. My name's Hilda," she greeted him. "I'm going on an adventure, and I'd like for some strong Pokemon to join me. You look like such a Pokemon."

The lillipup cocked his head.

"As long as you don't mind Poke Balls, you can join my team."

The lillipup barked, nodding his head.

Hilda tapped him on the head, a white light enveloping him. The Poke Ball fell to the ground, shaking for a bit before clicking. She smiled wildly. That worked out really well. There was no need to battle Pokemon to submission. All she had to do was talk nicely to them and they would comply.

The two of them went back into their original positions, waiting for Pokemon to arrive. This time a patrat came by, suspiciously viewing the area. He looked at the berries, curiously observing them. Oshawott ran out of his hiding spot, growling once again. The patrat turned around in fear, but he didn't run away. He ran after Oshawott, teeth bared. Oshawott yelped in terror, trying to flee. Hilda ran over and scooped him up, dragging her feet away from the creature trying to bite her ankles. She ran from him, meeting up with another angry patrat. She took a left toward a tree, only to meet up with yet another angry patrat. Soon the three of them came together, snarling at them and baring their teeth.

"This wasn't supposed to go like this," Hilda muttered fearfully.

There was no way Hilda could take on three patrats, especially when her party only had two Pokemon in it. She turned in to the woods, clutching a frightened Oshawott to her chest. She hardly turned her head around to tell if they were chasing her or not. Hilda lost her footing near a hill, tripping and tumbling down. Oshawott fell from her grasp, and he tumbled down with her. They both landed at the bottom, their heads spinning. A Poke Ball opened up in her bag, and Lillipup emerged from it. He licked Hilda's scratched up knees, whimpering with sympathy.

"Oh, you came out to help me?" Hilda muttered. "That's very kind of you."

Oshawott let out a yelp behind her, and Hilda staggered to her feet, quickly turning around to find him. A strange man had come by, wearing a strange uniform that was reminiscent of knights from an ancient Unova. The man held Oshawott in his grasp, laughing as the Pokemon struggled to get free. He looked at Hilda, raising an eyebrow at her.

"This trainer hurt you, didn't she, Oshawott?" he asked.

Lillipup ran in front of Hilda's feet, growling.

"You're the one hurting him," Hilda argued. "Give him back."

"How did he end up like this anyway?" the stranger insisted. "I've met many Trainers that have treated their Pokemon badly. I think I ought to release this Oshawott from you."

Hilda clenched her fists, holding one up in defiance. "Lillipup, bite his ankles!"

The stranger put a hand up to defend himself. "Easy, easy, it was only a thought, " he persisted. "You seem rather new, anyway. You haven't had time to abuse these graceful creatures. I'll give Oshawott back to you for now, but later, I will come to get him. I have other Pokemon to find, at this point."

He walked over to Hilda, handing Oshawott over. Hilda eagerly took him into her arms, frowning at the stranger.

"Ah, what do we say when someone does something nice for you?" the stranger added.

Hilda squinted her eyes at him. She couldn't believe how aloof he was.

"I get it. No matter. I'll be sure to see you again in one city or another."

The stranger turned and left, his tattered cape flying in the summer breeze. Hilda didn't know what to make of this encounter. There might be a few bad eggs, but most Trainers really cared about their Pokemon. What abuse was he referring to?

"I'm still in the middle of a contest, anyway," Hilda said, shaking it off. "Come on, you two. I think we should be good to head back and try again."

Hilda turned up the hill, her legs struggling to make it up the incline. She suddenly noticed that Lillipup wasn't following her, and she turned around to figure out why. His stubby tail was erect, his ears pointed up. Lillipup turned his head toward her, barking to get her attention.

"Is there something wrong around here?" Hilda asked him. "Lead the way, then."

Lillipup ran forward, practically sprinting. Hilda followed along slowly, observing every part of the woods. Lillipup was much faster than her, constantly running back to make sure she came along. They pushed a few branches aside, coming near a sand pit. Lillipup stopped at the edge, barking like crazy near it. Hilda and Oshawott peered inside, gasping at what they saw.

A yellow Pokemon was in there, struggling to climb out. It had black at the tip of its ears, two brown stripes on its back. The tail was shaped like a lightning bolt, with a divet found at the top. Scratches were found on its body, as well as ropes tied tightly on its arms.

It was a female pikachu.

But in Unova? Unova was far away from all of the other regions. Pokemon that commonly cross into those regions just weren't found in Unova. If a pikachu was here, someone had to have brought it with them from a transfer, or received it from a trade. There was no explaination for it. Right now, though, it definitely needed help getting out.

"Okay Oshawott, let's grab a branch," Hilda decided. "That's our first step."

She set Oshawott on a tree branch. Oshawott jumped on it a couple times until it snapped. Hilda caught him in her arms and grabbed the branch, running back over to the sand pit. She set Oshawott on the ground next to Lillipup, lying flat on her back. The branch came into the sand pit, the leaves pointing toward the pikachu. The pikachu noticed this, growling almost as much as the patrats were earlier. She turned her head away in indignation.

"It alright. I won't hurt you," Hilda insisted. "I'm here to help."

The pikachu looked back at her, surprised. She walked in the direction of the branch, quickly climbing up. Once there was no more branch left, Hilda picked her up by the scruff of her neck, setting her on the ground near her Pokemon.

"See? We're okay. Nothing to worry about anymore," Hilda promised.

The pikachu looked at Oshawott and Lillipup, growling. Sparks came up from the red pouches on her cheeks- she was preparing to attack. A Trainer's Pokemon, even one as frightened as this one, wouldn't act like this.

"No no, they're my friends," Hilda insisted. "They want to help, too."

Lillipup crept toward the pikachu, dabbing her with his tongue. She seemed to relax just a bit, allowing him to chew the ropes off her arms.

"Did that weird knight guy do this to you?" Hilda asked.

The pikachu nodded, ears bent down in sorrow.

"Honestly that guy. 'I'm so high and mighty, I believe that Trainers abuse Pokemon, dur hur hur!' He tried to hurt Oshawott, if you can believe it."

Oshawott nodded in agreement, frowning and trying to cross his stubby arms.

"If you don't mind being in a Poke Ball, I can take you somewhere to heal up. Is that okay? I get it if you don't trust us, I really do, but we want to help."

The pikachu nodded.

Hilda pulled out a Poke Ball, tapping it on her forehead. The white light took her inside the Poke Ball. The ball shook a bit before settling down and clicking. Hilda's hand trembled as she picked up the Poke Ball, her heart racing in excitement.

She had snagged a rare Pokemon!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Public Service Announcement

Hilda raced down Route 1, lighter than air. Oshawott rode on her back, giggling every time she made a great leap or bound. The patrats tried to chase after them, but all were scared off by Lillipup's protective barking. The contest didn't matter to Hilda anymore. Cheren and Bianca could have all the patrats they wanted for what they were worth. She had herself a pikachu! A pikachu, in Unova!

She arrived at Accumula Town just as the sky became orange. A strange gathering in the center of town slowed her gait to a simple walk. Hilda picked up Lillipup and stepped over to join the crowd. Cheren found her, walking her over to where Bianca stood. The three of them had a clear view of the town center, where they caught sight of a party that infuriated Hilda.

Many knight-looking men and women stood up front, creating a formation around this elderly man in gold-and-purple robes. One stranger with a tattered robe stood at the very end, and Hilda recognized him as the same one that threatened to take Oshawott away. So he was part of a group, she guessed.

"Greetings people of Accumula Town," the elderly man announced. "We are Team Plasma, and we work for the proper care and treatment of Pokemon. As it stands now, we have found that Team Plasma is needed more than ever in order to ensure that these grand creatures remain safe and happy."

Murmurs wafted from the crowd, confused at what he meant.

"We recently got a new story in about a poor pikachu, abused by her owner to no end. They went through several battles together, and the trainer forced their pikachu to suffer and endure great pain through every single one of them. We took the pikachu away in order to try and heal her wounds, but she somehow escaped, probably to try and find her owner. It was likely due to the abuse that made her want to stay, unable to know a better life."

Now that was a straight up lie. Pikachu had growled and snapped at Hilda's Pokemon. A Trainer's Pokemon would know not to do that.

"I've come to the realization that Pokemon and humans cannot live together. Pokemon are powerful, mysterious creatures, and all that they are used for is work and battle. The pain they suffer is unimaginable, and no one ever considers what the Pokemon want."

Murmurs came up again, this time more hurried and confused.

"We emplore you, people of Accumula Town, to consider the feelings of your Pokemon. Consider how they feel, and consider what is best for them."

The strangers walked all around him, escorting him out of town.

Hilda, Cheren and Bianca turned to look at each other, unsure of what to think. There were issues with the way people caught Pokemon. Hilda certainly didn't like the idea of hurting them in order to catch them. But after the initial catch and with a bit of work, Pokemon and humans interacted well with each other. Some people were tightly bonded with the strange creatures, and one could hardly fathom the idea of being without them.

"They're nuts," Cheren decided. "Pokemon aren't being oppressed. That's just not possible."

"And what did they mean about a pikachu?" Bianca wondered. "Unova doesn't have any pikachus. Was it from a different region, maybe?"

Hilda rubbed the back of her neck. "They're awful people, too. I ran into one of them on my way here. He tried to bully me into giving Oshawott away."

Bianca covered her mouth. "Oh no, that's awful! I'm glad you're okay."

She felt a pat on her head as Oshawott tried to comfort her. Hilda let out a sigh of relief. She really was thankful that everything turned out okay.

A Trainer walked toward them, giving them a smile. He wore a gray-and-white jacket, as well as a brownish hat. His green-ish hair was tied back in a low ponytail, making him appear quite rugged. He strode right up to the three of them, apparently eager to talk.

"Umm...hello there," Bianca muttered, clutching Tepig closer.

"No need to be so nervous," the trainer insisted. "I just wanted to talk about the announcement, is all. I can't find anyone I can really relate to."

"You can stick here, if you like," Hilda decided.

Snivy turned her head away in anger, matching Cheren's impatient attitude toward the newcomer. "There's nothing to talk about," he argued, arms crossed. "They're out of their mind."

"They do raise a few good points, though," the Trainer decided. "As Trainers, we need to consider the feelings of the Pokemon we're working with. I also think we need a better method of catching them than we have."

"Yeah, I think so, too," Hilda agreed. "I don't think it's necessary to beat them until they're weak enough to be caught. They can't like that too much."

"The first impression is important in building a relationship, I agree. Speaking of which..."

The Trainer put his hand out for Lillipup to sniff. Lillipup took in a whiff, and allowed himself to be pet.

"You just caught this lillipup, right?" the Trainer asked.

"Y-Yeah, I think about a half an hour ago," Lindsay explained.

"Oh yeah, I wanted to mention that when I saw it," Bianca beamed. "Good job!"

The Trainer pulled his hand away. "Only half an hour? And yet he likes you already. He only has good things to say about you so far. How did you catch him?"

Hilda and Oshawott cocked their heads. What did he mean by what Lillipup "said"? "It was a bit clumsy, I admit. But I asked him if he wanted to come along with us," she explained.

"I see. What an excellent first impression. I hope you always consider the feelings of your Pokemon. And I wish your friends would do the same."

Hilda set Lillipup on the ground and fiddled with her Poketch. "Oh, let me add you into my XTranseiver contacts," she insisted. "What's your name?"

"I go by N," the Trainer simply said.

N? What a strange thing to go by. But at least his name was the first one to come up. Hilda saved it into her contact list. "Now we can talk whenever we want," she announced. "We have to meet a friend somewhere, but I hope we see each other again soon."

N gave a curt nod, and he walked away.

Cheren took the lead, stomping forward. Hilda and Bianca followed suit, concerned for their friend. "Is everything alright, Cheren?" Bianca wondered.

"I don't want to think about it anymore," he argued.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five: Building a Plan

They met up with Professor Juniper at the town's Pokemon Center. She led them to the front desk where Pokemon were treated, the shop inside, and the Trainer Connection Center on the top level where trading and battling occurred. The top level was extremely busy, with several Trainers already gathered there. The three of them decided that it wasn't for them right now, anyway.

"Every city and town you come across will have a Pokemon Center," Professor Juniper explained. "These buildings will be your greatest assets on your journey. Remember to take your injured Pokemon here after every battle to ensure they feel welcome on your team. Oh, and don't forget to buy as many potions and heal sprays as you can, because those will help you in battle as well."

"That's great," Hilda decided. "Thank you for showing us around."

"You're quite welcome. Do you think you'll be okay on your own for a while? I need to get back to Nuvema Town."

"We know what we're doing for now. Thank you so much."

They waved Professor Juniper goodbye, watching her leave the building. Hilda took Oshawott and Lillipup back into their Poke Balls, taking all three of her Pokemon up to the front desk. The pig-tailed nurse took them and put them up on a strange machine. After five seconds, the nurse took the Poke Balls off and gave them back.

"Your Pokemon are all healed up," the nurse told her.

"No joke? That was really quick," Hilda gasped, hands on her cheeks in excitement.

"Here at the Pokemon Center, we pride ourselves on giving your Pokemon quick, efficient care. We don't want you out of the game for long, after all."

"Thanks a lot."

Hilda took her Poke Balls back, walking away from the desk. Bianca went up to the desk, only to be cut off by Cheren.

"No way. I'm not going last again," Cheren argued.

"But my Pokemon really need the attention," Bianca insisted. "Catching them was harder than I thought."

"Excuse me, but how many Pokemon do you each have in your party?" the nurse asked.

Cheren and Bianca looked at her. "Three," they said in unison.

"This machine fits a six-Pokemon party. I can treat all of them at once."

This seemed to satisfy the two of them. They put their Poke Balls up at once, letting the nurse take them.

Hilda waited for them by the door, her mind buzzing with confused thoughts. What had Team Plasma wanted with Pikachu, in order for them to fabricate such a story? Was it to make her a mascot? Pikachus were widely popular, even in regions where they weren't all that numerous. If they could elicit sympathy from the public by using a pikachu as the poor victim of a Trainer, then perhaps their plans might come into fruition. That was the best theory Hilda could come up with. But she wasn't sure what Team Plasma wanted to do yet, other than ensure that Pokemon were treated kindly- and that was still in question.

A Trainer in a backwards ballcap walked up to her, eagerly holding out a Poke Ball for her. "You wouldn't happen to have any rare ones, would you?" he asked. "I'd like to do a trade."

She did, but nobody could know right now. "Um, I just started out today," Hilda insisted. "I only have lillipups and an Oshawott."

"I see...well, let me know. I really want to impress my friends."

He walked off then, shoulders slumped. Perhaps he wasn't having any luck upstairs. That was the only way he could get any real Pokemon.

Cheren and Bianca returned to Hilda's side. "Alright, I looked up a great hotel where Trainers like us can stay. All we need to do is pay for dinner. Which means we have to decide on the winner of the contest."

Oh right, the contest. From the announcement and Pikachu, Hilda had forgotten about it. She suddenly had a pain in her stomach from the very idea of getting the results.

* * *

They met up in a hotel room that night, sitting at a table. Oshawott, Snivy and Tepig chased each other around the room, minding the television that sat in there. Bianca fished her Poke Balls out of her bag, placing them on the table. She could barely sit still, she was so excited about the results. Even Cheren seemed excited about what was to happen, which until today was rare for him. Hilda was less so. She didn't want to stick to childish competitions anyway, but what would they think of her rare catch after that announcement?

"Me first! Let's go!" Bianca announced. She pressed the buttons on her Poke Balls, releasing a patrat and a lillipup. "These are my beautiful babies."

"Pokemon are wonderful, but I wouldn't go that far," Cheren wondered. He pressed the buttons on his Poke Balls, releasing a purrloin and a pidove. "These are mine. So far we all caught two."

Hilda laughed awkwardly, giving an awkward shrug as she reached for the landline. "Well you all saw my lillipup, and that's the only one I caught," she insisted. "You're right, I lost. I concede to my defeat, so I'll pay for dinner."

Bianca shook her head. "No, you caught another one. We saw you put three Poke Balls on the front desk."

"You saw wrong, Bianca. You're always mistaking things for other things."

Cheren lifted his bag up before Oshawott ran into it. "No, I saw the same thing. You caught two, like we did."

Hilda moved her hand from the phone. "Yes, you are right, Cheren. So let's just...all pitch in for dinner."

"What did you catch?" Bianca asked. She gasped, clutching her bag. "Was it a rare one? Oh, it must have been a rare one! That's why you're dodging our questions! You just _have_ to show us!"

Hilda looked at Cheren expectantly.

"I just want to buy dinner," he shrugged.

Hilda grabbed the Poke Ball that contained Pikachu. "Okay okay," she sighed. "But just remember. In this world, things aren't always as they seem. So whatever you may think of this, remember, there's another explaination for it."

She pressed the button on her Poke Ball. Out came Pikachu, who was a little disoriented, although much healthier and happier. She flicked her ears timidly, observing her surroundings. Pikachu narrowed her eyes at Snivy and Tepig, but she gave Oshawott a free pass.

All Cheren and Bianca did was stare at her, jaws dropped and eyes widened. Bianca lifted a finger to point at her, stammering out something that no one could understand.

"That's a pikachu," Cheren gasped. "You caught a pikachu? How is that possible?"

"I-I found her injured in the woods, if that helps," Hilda muttered.

"You guys, what if that's the pikachu those Plasma guys were talking about?" Bianca wondered, fixing her beret. "I mean, the description they used was 'female pikachu'. And look how frightened she is. That could be the mark of an abusive Trainer."

"I don't think so," Hilda explained. "Let me bring Snivy over for a quick second."

Hilda got up, walking over and picking up Snivy. The grass-type Pokemon huffed, resigning to her fate. She presented her to Pikachu, and immediately the electric-type Pokemon started producing sparks from her cheeks. Hilda set Snivy on the ground after that, and Pikachu calmed down almost immediately.

"Hey, what did you do that for!?" Cheren yelled. "I don't want you hurting our Pokemon!"

"I wouldn't do it on purpose!" Hilda argued. "But didn't you see it? She's too used to seeing all other Pokemon as threats, even Trainer's Pokemon. She's a wild one."

"It could be from the abuse she suffered from her Trainer," Bianca shrugged. "Pokemon rescued from abusive Trainers are often more wary of other Pokemon."

Hilda picked up Pikachu, cradling her like one might do with a purrloin. "She reacted poorly to the mention of Team Plasma, too. If they were trying to help her, she might not do that. I think they did something awful with her, like abducting her from home."

"What should we do?"

"I don't know. But I want to know where Pikachu came from. If she was a Unova Trainer's Pokemon, if she was abducted from Canto, or whatever else."

Cheren pulled out the map. "I'd say we go to Nacrene City, then," he decided. "They have that grand library and museum. Someone there ought to know where Pikachu came from."

"But we can't do that yet!" Bianca argued. "I heard it from the veterans here. They won't let us go there until we get the Trio Badge from Striaton City."

"Of course. The Striaton Gym is a must. It proves our worth as Trainers. And for me, at least, it's my first step to challenging the Champion and becoming strong."

Hilda gave him a thumbs up. "And we'll be cheering you on the side when that day comes," she promised him. "Now, why don't we all pitch in for dinner?"

Cheren laughed, folding up the map. "Finally, we can get to it!"


	6. Chapter 6

**To those who commented, thank you for letting me know of my spelling error. I did think something was wrong, but I didn't find out until too late. I'll keep it in mind for the future.**

 **Tell me what you think of the story in general, and if I need improving in that area.**

Chapter Six: The First Night

Hilda woke up in the middle of the night. At first it didn't occur to her that she had left home. As such, she felt a little frightened once she saw that the room she was in wasn't her own. It wasn't until she felt her three Pokemon snuggled under the covers with her that she remembered the events from yesterday. Had it really been only yesterday? It felt like ages ago.

Cheren and Bianca slept in beds beside hers. Their Pokemon were sleeping with them as well. Their Starters seemed more pressed up to them than their other Pokemon, representing their bond. Hilda realized that she had a closer bond with all of her Pokemon. They formed a line, pressing against her side as close as they could. It was as if they fought for the right to be her partner. Maybe N had a point about considering the Pokemon's feelings.

Hilda turned her XTranseiver on, contacting him. It took a full minute for him to get on, but his image on screen came up.

"N, hi!" Hilda whispered.

"It's three in the morning," N muttered tiredly. "What are you doing calling me?"

"What kinds of Pokemon are with you right now?"

"Right now? Just Purrloin. He's sleeping on my face."

"I'd expect a purrloin to do that."

"I'm guessing your Pokemon are doing similar things."

"Yeah. You know, it's only been a day, but I feel really close to them. If they got taken from me now, I know I'd be devastated. I can't really explain it."

Silence, but only for a moment. "I see," N replied, his tone a bit somber. "Do your Pokemon feel the same?"

"Given their proximity to me, I'm pretty sure they do. And I think your Pokemon feels the same."

"I know he does."

"I think I should let you go now. Have a good night."

"You too."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven: Road Battle

Breakfast was brought straight up to their room the next morning. Funny, they hadn't ordered breakfast yet. The delivery guy said that someone else bought it for them. The bag contained bagels and oranges, which seemed very odd. Who might deliver food to them?

"I'm allergic to citrus," Cheren moped.

"Well at least you have the bagels," Hilda insisted. "They're plain bagels. The great equalizer of breakfast foods."

Cheren nodded, taking one.

"Hey Cheren, your show's on!" Bianca called.

The two of them joined her in front of the television, sitting with their Pokemon. Pikachu seemed relaxed and content with Oshawott and Lillipup. She had gotten used to being with them, at least. It was noted that she was still a bit wary around the other Pokemon, but she wasn't gearing up to attack them now.

The theme song came onto the television, and the title screen came up- "Alder's Adventures", it said.

"Welcome to Alder's Adventures!" the narrator announced. "The show where we track the whereabouts of famed Unova Champion, Alder! Where could he be today? You might ask?"

"Oh, I've seen this one before," Hilda noted.

"The beginning announcement is always the same," Cheren argued. "Give it a moment."

The television had a shot of a grand mountain peak, snow just touching the tips. Someone was seen on a large flying-type Pokemon. Was it an unfezant? No, its feathers were more colorful than that, even for a female unfezant. An archeops? Wow, those were extremely rare.

"Yeah, this one is new," Hilda admitted. "Especially that Pokemon he's riding. I think I want that one."

"Why does Alder travel all across the region, anyway?" Bianca wondered. "Is the life of a Champion really that boring?"

"He's riding an archeops. I wouldn't call that boring," Cheren scoffed. "Besides, he does all these things _because_ he's the Champion. Unlimited opportunity across Unova, won through strength alone...that's got to be the key to life."

Bianca slumped her shoulders. "Don't say that. I can never get that key, then."

"Now _you_ don't say that. You always have a chance to become stronger. All of us do."

"I suppose."

Tepig nuzzled her hand, trying to make her feel better.

"You'll feel better after we beat the first Gym," Hilda decided. "You're just worried because you haven't had the experience yet."

Cheren got up, collecting his things. "Speaking of which, we should probably head out now," he insisted. "Winning the Trio Badge will take forever unless we go."

"Alright, antsy pants, just give us a minute," Hilda teased.

They grabbed their bags, collecting things they'd placed around the hotel room. Hilda grabbed Pikachu's Poke Ball, pressing the button to bring her back in. The white light enveloped her, and she was taken right inside. However, in another second, Pikachu broke out, ears flattened in anger.

"I know you want to travel out with the others," Hilda insisted. "But the other Trainers will swarm us if they see you. We could be facing a really tough one."

"You could hide her in your bag," Bianca suggested. "No one would have to see her."

"She wouldn't fit."

Cheren shook his head. "Just leave it be. We'll figure it out later," he insisted. "If anything happens, I'll take care of it."

Hilda sighed. She scooped Pikachu into her arms, setting her on her shoulder. "Let's head out, then."

* * *

The three of them walked through Accumula Town, making their way to the route house. People stared at them around every corner. Correction- they stared at Pikachu. Every conversation Hilda picked up was about Pikachu, and how she came across a pikachu, and how rare and fantastic pikachus were. She felt naked, as if they were preparing to pounce on her at any second.

"They're all staring at me," Hilda muttered.

"You're alright. Don't worry," Cheren insisted.

Oshawott did his best to guard her from prying eyes, while Lillipup barked like crazy to scare people away. As one could imagine, none of those things worked too well on a crowd this massive. To make things worse, Bianca's lillipup Lilly started barking along with him, drawing more attention to the group. It was just awful.

They arrived at the route house, collecting their Pokemon and taking them in. The door closed behind them, and Hilda thought that might be the last of it. But then the door man commented on it as well.

"Oh, is that a pikachu?" the man gasped. "Did you get it from a trade? Oh, but your Starter hasn't evolved yet. So young, and you already traded something for a pikachu!"

Could this get worse?

Bianca gasped, pointing up at the electronic bulletin board. Rolling across in big orange letters- "Nuvema Town Trainer Has Been Spotted With An Extremely Rare Pikachu".

Yes. Yes it could.

"Alder's going to descend upon me with that archeops of his, I just know it," Hilda muttered.

Pikachu gave a few guilty yips.

"They'll all get used to it," Cheren insisted. "You just have to wait a little while."

"I'm not sure they're going to," Hilda sighed, arms crossed.

"Well, maybe after Nacrene City, you'll be okay," Bianca suggested. "You just have Lillipup right now. You can collect a larger variety of Pokemon in Pinwheel Forest, or so I've heard."

"It's a long way to Nacrene City, at this rate."

Someone ran into the route house from the opposite side. It was a nerdy boy with glasses and slacks. He was about their age, but he acted much older. At least, he tried to. A woobat floated up next to him, smiling like an idiot.

"Inconceivable! And yet, here it is!" the kid shouted. "A Pikachu in Unova!"

"It's nice to meet you," Bianca muttered. "What's your name?"

"Leroy. Top student at Striaton's Trainer School. I'm close to fighting at the Gym, but that's of no importance."

Leroy ran up to Hilda stopping at arm's length as he reached out for Pikachu. "We're too far away from the other regions. A Pikachu can't travel by water unless it's on a boat."

Pikachu flicked her ear, sparks coming from her cheeks.

"And how stubborn, too. Definitely a recent catch from the wild. Oh great Trainer, tell me of your adventures! What grand things have you seen on your great journey?"

Hilda scratched behind her ear. "I'm from Nuvema Town," she admitted quietly.

Leroy scoffed. "The boonies? That can't be, you must have greater power."

Oshawott scoffed, putting himself in front of her. Lillipup stepped in front of him.

Leroy looked at the two of them, blinking in realization. "Oh, so you're a brand new Trainer."

"I just got lucky is all," Hilda insisted.

"What great luck. No matter, I have an important request to fill out."

The kid formed a dramatic pose. "Oh great Trainer of Nuvema Town, I challenge your pikachu against my woobat to test our great power!"

Hilda stepped back, scooping her Pokemon into her arms. "No way! I haven't even battled another Trainer yet!"

"You really should hold off for now," Cheren told him. "We need some better experience first."

"Better experience, he says," Leroy scoffed. "Why, what better experience is there than battling the top student of the Trainer School? I won't take no for an answer! I will not wait! Let's go!"

"I've never used Pikachu in battle before," Hilda argued. "I wouldn't know where to begin."

Leroy grabbed Hilda's Poketch, fiddling with it. "Now you will. I've downloaded a new app for you," he explained. "This will scan your Pokemon and tell you which moves they already know. It will help in teaching them new moves as well."

Hilda took Pikachu off her shoulder, setting her on the ground. She scanned her with the Poketch, and a list of moves came up. So far, Pikachu knew three- Tackle, Leer and Thunderbolt.

"Impressive," Hilda muttered.

"Oh! Me too!" Bianca chirped. "I'd like one as well!"

"We're not battling you! That's that!" Cheren yelled. "Now let us go!"

Leroy crossed his arms. "I will not! I'll stay here all year if I have to!"

Hilda sighed. "I guess I don't have much of an excuse anymore. Okay, let's head outside, then we can battle."

Leroy jumped for joy. He hugged his woobat tightly, carrying him out of the route house. Hilda could hardly believe it. She was about to battle a Trainer who really knew his stuff. There was no way she could beat him.

* * *

Hilda and Leroy faced each other by a small tree on the other side of the route house. Sparks sprung up from Pikachu's cheeks- she was really gearing up for a battle. The idea seemed to excite her a lot. Even if there was a way to back out of this, Hilda didn't think Pikachu wanted to.

"This shall be the greatest battle of our young lives!" Leroy cheered. "Can the top student of the Trainer School possibly defeat the might that is this ultimate rare pikachu? We shall see!"

Pikachu and Woobat faced each other on the ground, circling each other and sizing the other up. Hilda's Pokemon could hardly contain her energy. But they needed to have a method for beating Leroy and his Pokemon.

"Pikachu, leer Woobat!" Hilda commanded.

Pikachu let out a growl, pounding a bit. Woobat backed up, caught off guard.

"Wing attack!" Leroy shouted.

Woobat curved in low, cuffing Pikachu with his wings. Pikachu tumbled for a bit, staggering back up.

"Pikachu, tackle him!" Hilda shouted.

"Woobat, protect yourself!" Leroy quickly interjected.

Woobat shielded his face with his wings. Pikachu rammed straight into the wings, failing to injure him.

"What was that?" Hilda gasped.

"The move Protect," Leroy smirked. "It leaves the user protected against all attacks. Pretty cool, huh?"

Hilda shook her head. "Tackle again!"

"Protect."

The same thing happened.

"Again!"

"Protect."

The same things happened.

Hilda threw her hands in the air. "You can't keep spamming the same move!" she argued. "The battle won't go anywhere, then."

"I want to see more from this battle as well," Leroy insisted. "Would you like to give me that?"

Perhaps he'd end this conflict early if Pikachu used powers that he wanted her to use. Hilda crossed her arms, frowning.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" she shouted.

Pikachu grinned. Sparks rose from her body, colliding and uniting together into one stream. The bolt struck Woobat, sending him to the ground. He gave off a few little spasms of the wings, a sign of paralysis in Pokemon.

Leroy moved his glasses down just a tiny bit, astonished. "Impressive."

Indeed it was. There was no reason for Pikachu to have more experience in Trainer battles than any of Hilda's other Pokemon, especially when this was her first battle. But a move like Thunderbolt in a beginner was truly an impressive one. There was no denying that. But perhaps it was a bit much...

"I think we should stop," Hilda insisted. "I don't want to overdo it with your Pokemon."

Leroy pulled a small yellow bottle out of his bag- a Paralyz Heal. He sprayed it out at Woobat, the mist settling on his Pokemon. Woobat flew back up into the air, gearing up to fight once again.

Hilda stepped back. "You want to keep going?"

"If we don't give it our all, we'll never even get past the first Gym," Leroy insisted. "You win by knocking out the Gym Leader's Pokemon. Nothing else to it, and nothing else for it."

"This isn't the same, though. I don't want our Pokemon to get badly hurt."

"It'll be fine. I wouldn't put Woobat through this if I didn't think he could handle it."

She would have to knock out the Gym Leader's Pokemon in order to advance, wouldn't she? Were there situations in life that involved the use of rigorous battle? Are people not able to avoid tough battles all the time? Perhaps if that was the only way, then Hilda would have to take this first step.

"Pikachu, tackle him!" Hilda shouted.

Pikachu rushed forward, leaping up. She headbutted Woobat square in the face, knocking him into the tree.

"Woobat, Heart Stamp!" Leroy commanded.

Woobat pressed his wings to its face, releasing them and revealing a heart-shaped energy. This energy shot at Pikachu, knocking her to the ground. She staggered back up, a little worse for wear. Another move like that, and she might be out for the count.

Hilda dug into her bag, dragging out the berry bag her mother gave her. She pulled out a yellow pear-shaped berry, studying the orange-ish marks on it. A Sitrus berry held a lot of energy, sure enough to heal a Pokemon.

"Pikachu, catch!" Hilda shouted, tossing it out.

Pikachu flicked her ears to the source of the sound, turning to face Hilda. She caught the berry in her paws, stuffing it into her mouth. The change was almost immediate, and Pikachu was back into fighting shape.

"Woobat, Heart Stamp!" Leroy shouted.

Woobat performed the same move again. Pikachu saw this coming, quickly dodging the energy before it could hit her.

"Thunderbolt!" Hilda commanded.

Pikachu released the stream of electrical energy, shooting it at the woobat. Woobat fell to the ground, his energy spent. Heavy breathing came from the fallen Pokemon, and a white light collected him into a Poke Ball.

"You knocked out my Pokemon," Leroy noted. "You are the winner of this battle."

Pikachu leapt into Hilda's arms, cheering. Hilda staggered a bit as she acclimated to her Pokemon's weight. They won? She could hardly believe it. They won.

"Guys, come out here!" Hilda shouted. "I think I won!"

Cheren and Bianca came out, followed by their Pokemon. "Are you sure?" Cheren asked. "Did the woobat faint?"

"He most certainly did," Leroy insisted, stepping forward. "And I must say, you and Pikachu have fine battling skills."

"Oh good job, Hilda!" Bianca cheered, clapping. "We knew you'd be great!"

Their Pokemon erupted into bouts of cheering, the lillipups running around them in circles, Tepig and Oshawott hugging each other, Snivy and Purrloin looking on with aloof stares, Pidove and Patrat doing their best to clap. Hilda welled with pride, as did Pikachu. They won their first battle together.

Leroy took Hilda's hand, vigorously shaking it. "I must say, this was a very excellent battle. I'm glad to have had the opportunity to battle a pikachu. Most impressive."

"You're welcome...I guess," Hilda muttered.

Leroy gasped, digging into his bag. He pulled out three flyers, giving one to each of them. A small, education building was featured on it. Emblazoned at the top- "Become a Better Trainer. Attend the Trainer School In Striaton City."

"I forgot I was supposed to be passing those out around town," Leroy chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. "The Trainer School is a must before taking on the Gym. You get to learn all of the strengths and weaknesses for Pokemon, as well as participate in battles with other Trainers such as yourselves."

"That's not such a bad idea," Hilda decided. "I would like to know what we're getting into before we go for the battle. What do you guys say?"

Cheren adjusted his tie. "A few days at the most is all I'll accept," he insisted.

Bianca looked away, head bowed. "I feel like I'm not good enough for it," she muttered.

"It's a school. It's going to help you become good," Leroy promised. "It'll be good for all of you."

Bianca straightened herself out. "Alright, I'll do it!" she decided. "Thanks a lot, Leroy. You've really helped us out."

The four of them walked on the path together, making their way to Striaton City.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight: Trainer School

Unova is said to be the industrial region of the world, with towering buildings and hi-tech facilities everywhere you look. Though if one spends their entire life in sleepy Nuvema Town, they wouldn't get that impression.

So Hilda, Cheren and Bianca were absolutely starstruck by the formidable Striaton City. Tall buildings surrounded them, nearly dwarfing the trees. There were no small houses, just apartment buildings packed close to one another. Children played in the streets with their Pokemon while the adults watched carefully. An occasional car drove on the road, minding the lillipups and herdiers that ran by. This town was busy, and the three of them had been swallowed into it.

"Is every city like this?" Bianca gasped.

"Just about, I think," Leroy shrugged. "I've heard that Castelia City might be the biggest city in Unova."

"But this city's really big!" Hilda argued. "There can't be anything bigger than this!"

Cheren shrugged it off, but there was no hiding his bewilderment. "Let's just find the Trainer School," he insisted. "Can you lead the way for us, Leroy?"

Leroy gave him a thumbs up. "That's what I'm here for! It's down this street, just follow me."

Hilda collected her Pokemon into their Poke Balls, and the others did the same. They followed Leroy along the sidewalk, minding other pedestrians along the way. Bianca gave a friendly wave to a few children that ran around them, smiling happily. Striaton City was filled with life, and it seemed that everyone wanted to milk the most out of it.

Suddenly, everyone halted in their daily activities, pointing up at the sky. Hilda did the same, noticing what appeared to be a giant flying Pokemon up there. That couldn't be an archeops- at least, she prayed that it wasn't. The way the figure curved and moved made it appear that someone was riding it. In that case, she _really_ hoped that it wasn't an archeops.

"Look! Something's coming from it!" Bianca gasped.

Several objects flew away from the figure, the summer breeze scattering them across the city. They were papars, flyers actually. They flew everywhere, gathered by many passersby. Cheren caught one mid-air, quickly scanning it. He scoffed in disgust, handing it over to his friends.

"What is it?" Hilda asked.

"More dumb Plasma rhetoric," Cheren sighed.

Bianca looked it over, passing it to Leroy. Leroy then passed it over to Hilda. The flyer depicted a sad sight. It was an audino, pink fur matted in dirt, deep scratches all over, paws tied up, ears sitting down in melancholy. "This Is What Oppression Looks Like," the poster said. "Release Your Pokemon." On the bottom, in fine print, it said, "This Message Was Funded by Team Plasma."

"Oh, but audinos are so sweet," Bianca sighed. "Who would do something like that?"

"They have to be overreacting, right?" Leroy wondered. "Some Trainers are awful, but I don't think you need to punish everyone for the actions of a few."

"But it sounds like Team Plasma has a strong foothold in the region," Hilda wondered. "They have to if they can afford to dump thousands of flyers around. They must really want to see Pokemon released from Trainers."

Leroy shrugged. "I wouldn't worry, regardless. Pokemon are too important to us. It's not like this will immediately change public opinion. C'mon, let's head to the Trainer School."

After a quick stop at the city's Pokemon Center, the group made it to the Trainer School. It was a small building, dwarved by the taller apartments beside it. It looked even smaller compared to the elegant restaurant beside it. The stone-colored walls appeared warm and inviting, and the green flags on the roof seemed to signal the start of adventure. What secrets did this school hold for them?

A woman stood by the entrance, waving to people who passed by. She wore a yellow dress with a white apron, her dark hair neatly tied in braids. She beckoned the four of them to come over, smiling warmly.

"Back so soon, Leroy? The halls of the school always seem to lure you back," the woman giggled. "I see you've brought along some new friends."

"They want to learn at the school for a few days," Leroy explained. "This is...actually, I don't think I caught their names."

Cheren pointed to each of them, saying, "Cheren, Hilda, Bianca."

"Welcome to the school," the woman told them. "My name is Lucy. I guess you can call me the headmaster of the Trainer School."

"There isn't a headmaster here?" Hilda wondered.

"The school is mostly made up of experts who wish to lecture new Trainers on the ways of battling. I mostly manage study structure here, so I'm affectionately called 'Headmaster' as a result."

"Yeah, people always come and go from here," Leroy added. "There doesn't have to be a strong structure here."

Lucy invited them into the building. Tables were set up everywhere, with various people sitting at them combing over books. Children, adults, and the elderly were here. Pokemon were gathered around, playing about or sitting with their Trainers. At the front of the room, there was a green chalkboard, with large charts written on it.

"Hello, everyone!" Lucy greeted them. "We have some new Trainers willing to learn with us. Meet Cheren, Hilda, and Bianca."

Everyone greeted them with warm smiles. One little girl asked, "Can we see your Pokemon?"

"Of course," Bianca insisted. "We don't have a great collection quite yet, but I'm sure they'd like to come out."

Cheren and Bianca released their Pokemon. Hilda hesitated for a moment, sure that everyone would swamp her once she released Pikachu. But it would be nice for her Pokemon to get out. Hilda released hers as well. Oshawott and Lillipup freely chased after their friends, joining in merriment. Pikachu stayed close to Hilda, looking warily at the other strange Pokemon in the room.

"Oh, so _you're_ the one with the pikachu!" an old man gasped. "She must've been difficult to catch!"

Hilda picked her up. "She's a bit shy. I don't exactly know where she came from," she explained.

A little girl in green overalls bounded over to her, excited. "You can be my partner, then!" she decided. "I have a Pokemon that your pikachu's bound to love! Oh Audino!"

An audino walked over to them, giving them a big smile. Pikachu folded her ears as he came over, but Audino wasn't phased. He held a paw out for her, and she calmed down just a tiny bit. Audino patted her on the head.

"He won her over almost immediately," Hilda gasped.

"That's how they are in the wild," the little girl explained. "Other Pokemon don't even attack them. That's what Mommy says, at least. She knows a lot about Pokemon from working right next to the Daycare."

"My name's Hilda, and thank you for partnering with me."

"I'm Chrissy!"

Lucy walked up to the chalkboard, pointing at the charts written on it. "Alright, so the key to winning a battle is always the first move," she began. "But the first move means nothing unless it is effective against your opponent's Pokemon. All Pokemon are categorized into different class types, and each have their respective strengths and weaknesses. Water types are weak to electric types, ice types are weak to fire types, and so on. It is also good to know how fast your Pokemon can attack, and if this speed can be improved with items or vitamins."

An Ace Trainer raised her hand. "Oh Headmaster, what are dragon types weak against?" she asked.

"They are weak against fairy type moves. Oh, and funnily enough, dragon type moves."

"So they cancel each other out?" Hilda wondered. "How come that is?"

Lucy touched a hand to her chin in thought. "I haven't thought about that. Could be something that the greater powers of the world put in place, in order to ensure the safety of everyone living on the planet. I think there was an old legend about it, but Nacrene City's museum would hold more information."

Hilda had always heard rumors of dragon type Pokemon being incredibly powerful. She'd heard her neighbors discuss how a haxorus could level their tiny town, and then the whole forest around them if it was in a bad mood. She could hardly fathom what could come from an epic duel between two dragons.

Lucy straightened up, hands clasped. "We will study more on type effectiveness in the Dreamyard, where we will practice strategies in two-way battles," she continued. "I would like someone to partner up with our new guests, and then we can all head out."

Another Ace Trainer took Bianca's hand. "I'll train with her," he decided.

"I'll go with Cheren," Leroy added.

"And I see Chrissy teamed up with Hilda," Lucy noted. "Alright, let's head out."

Everyone started filing out of the school. Cheren stayed back, waiting for the crowd to thin out. He then made his way to the chalkboard, studying it intently. He had to be memorizing the type strengths and weaknesses. That wasn't a bad idea. Hilda went over to him and did the same, typing them into her Poketch notebook app.

* * *

The Dreamyard was a massive abandoned construction site. Plants grew over the crumbling building, and wild Pokemon crawled all over the walls. It was told to the three of them that the Dreamyard was a popular place to train Pokemon- as well as spot some rare Pokemon as well.

Hilda and Chrissy observed the partner Trainers, trying to pick out the best one for a battle. Everyone else seemed to have been training their Pokemon for a long time. They looked so close to their Pokemon, the trust practically visible in them. They had to be much stronger than Hilda thought she was.

"Let's fight those two old guys," Chrissy decided, pointing at two uniformed men.

"Those are Ace Trainers!" Hilda argued. "They're at the top of their game. Why don't we fight some actual old guys?"

Hilda pointed out a pairing of middle-aged men, wearing tight polo shirts and sweating profusely in the heat. They each had patrats, both mean and fidgety. It should be a good fight for their Pokemon.

"If you say so," Chrissy shrugged. "I'm going to use Audino. Are you using Pikachu?"

Hilda shook her head. "I was thinking of using Lillipup," she decided. "It just occurred to me that I haven't used him for battle yet, despite how strong and loyal he is."

Pikachu frowned at the comment- combat was something she enjoyed, apparently. Oshawott gave her a sad look, but he nodded in agreement. Out of all her Pokemon, Lillipup needed the experience.

"Lillipup is a fighting kind of Pokemon, right?" Chrissy asked. "I mean that most of his attacks are based on fighting. Audino seems to be more of a support Pokemon, so that's what I'm going to do for you."

The two of them shook on it.

"Hey, gentlemen," Hilda called them over. "We wish to train with you."

The men looked up at them, walking over with their Pokemon. "Sure thing, but we bet you'll regret it!" the first man grinned.

The men sent out their patrats to fight. Chrissy sent out Audino, while Hilda sent out Lillipup.

"Lillipup, bite the one on the left!" Hilda shouted.

"Bide your time!" the second man ordered.

"Bite back!" the first man gasped.

"Helping hand, Audino!" Chrissy commanded.

A wave of energy came from Audino, encircling Lillipup. With this energy, Lillipup bit the first patrat with great force, wounding it a lot. The patrat bit back, leaving a noticeable dent, but not as bad as its injury. The second patrat did nothing, but its growling increased.

"What's going on with that one?" Hilda muttered.

"Why, my patrat is getting ready for a powerful move," the second man chuckled. "It'll have you at the edge of your seat."

Oh no, what was going to come of this?"

"Audino, light screen!" Chrissy shouted.

"Lillipup, tackle the first patrat!" Hilda ordered.

"Leer her lillipup!" the first man commanded.

Lillipup tacked the first patrat again. He staggered it this time, though not enough to take it down. The patrat leapt forward a bit, scaring Lillipup back next to Audino. It worked out well enough, as Audino created a thin green veil that covered the two of them.

It was at this point that the second patrat unleashed a ball of red energy, hitting the two of them dead on. Lillipup and Audino staggered back a bit, recoiling from the hit. It was a really powerful move, one that Lillipup had suffered a bit more from, but their two Pokemon were surprisingly still in the fight.

"I think we need to switch it up now," Hilda decided.

"Me too," Chrissy agreed. "Audino, double slap the first one!"

"Lillipup, roar at the second one!"

"Bite the Lillipup!" the first man shouted.

Lillipup let out a massive bark, akin to that of a mighty roar. The second patrat jumped up, retreating back to its Trainer. The first patrat came by, biting Lillipup on the back and injuring him further, causing him to limp. Audino came to the rescue, repeatedly slapping the patrat until it fainted.

"Well, those were the only Pokemon we had on our team," the second man shrugged. "You girls win that one."

Chrissy and Hilda high-fived each other, complimenting the others' skills. Hilda knelt before Lillipup, feeding him an Oran berry. She scratched him behind his ear, saying, "Good job, buddy."

"Yeah, you were great, Audino!" Chrissy smiled at her Pokemon. "You really helped us a lot!"

An angry yell sounded by the dilapidated building. Hilda turned her head to look, spotting Bianca and her parther kneeling on the ground. All but one of their Pokemon had been knocked out, save for Bianca's patrat, which held on out of spite more than anything. The Ace Trainer they battled congratulated themselves, celebrating with their three Pokemon- two gurdurrs and a basculin.

"What did I tell you about bringing stronger Pokemon to the school?!" Bianca's partner spat. "These are beginners! You don't need to punish them for being beginners!"

"You know how tedious this kind of training is!" the Ace Trainer argued. "I want them to win through cleverness!"

Bianca collected her Pokemon back into their Poke Balls. "It was my fault," she sniffled. "I should've been training them from the beginning."

"This wasn't your fault," Bianca's partner insisted. "You were doing the best you could here. Foul play was involved."

Cheren and Hilda hurried over to their friend, helping her to her feet. "Let's call it a day and head to the Pokemon Center," Cheren decided.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine: Mission Munna

Hilda felt someone shake her awake the next morning. She opened her eyes, her vision a bit blurry at first. It cleared up, and she faced Cheren straight on. He appeared frantic, his hair messed up and his tie undone, which wasn't like him at all. Hilda looked at her Poketch, checking the time. It was 9:38 in the morning, meaning that there were several reasons for him not to look like that.

"Hilda, we have a problem," Cheren told her.

Hilda sat up, rubbing an eye. She looked around their hotel bedroom, spotting nothing different at first. The room was the same as it was, with the big mess they'd made at dinnertime. Cheren and Bianca's beds were made, and...wait, Bianca's was made, too? It was, with only slight ruffles in the blanket to indicate that someone had been sitting on the bed. Her bag was missing, too, as were her Pokemon. She must have left sometime in the night or early morning, didn't she? Both Hilda and Bianca enjoyed sleeping in.

"You're right we have a problem," Hilda gasped. "Do you know where she went?"

"Her dinner was still in the fridge when I looked there," Cheren began, fiddling with the hem of his shirt.

"Still unfinished, too?"

"Yeah. I was thinking that Bianca might've gone to the Trainer School. I know she was really upset about what happened yesterday, but maybe she would want to ask for advice from Lucy."

"She might go to the Pokemon Center, too. I know Bianca can't really use an XTranseiver all that well, so she might use the PC there to call her mom about her concerns. Or maybe she's turning all the way back, heading home."

They both grimaced.

"Okay, here's what we'll do," Cheren decided, snapping his fingers. "I'll make a sweep through Striaton City around the Trainer School, you'll make a sweep through the city around the Pokemon Center, and we'll meet up at the route house by Accumula Town if we don't find any sight of her."

The two of them shook on it. Cheren ran out first, hastily fixing his tie. Hilda didn't even bother brushing her hair, and simply tied it up. She hurriedly put on her black vest and white hat, slinging her bag over her shoulder. Hilda stepped for the door, but halted for a minute. She remembered how easily Lillipup found Pikachu before, so could he do the same for Bianca?

"Lillipup, I'm going to need your help," Hilda decided.

Lillipup ran to her feet, barking excitedly.

Hilda grabbed the pillow off of Bianca's bed, prepared to rush out the door. She heard two coughs before she could get anything done. Pikachu huffed at her, frowning. Oshawott looked disappointed, trying his best to emulate Pikachu's features. Hilda sighed, running back to get them. She grabbed Pikachu first, setting her on her shoulder. She hoisted Oshawott into her left arm, reserving her right one for the pillow. She gave the pillow to Lillipup, who sniffed it a few times before running out the door. Hilda followed suit, shutting the door behind them.

Hilda hurried out of the hotel building after Lillipup, avoiding people and Pokemon she met along the sidewalk. Her bag slipped off her shoulder, and Pikachu caught it by the strap. This nearly caused Hilda to tilt downward. She constantly shifted Oshawott and the pillow back in her grasp, and the two seemed to slide down whenever she shifted the other up. Buildings and trees seemed to take on the same shape, and even with Lillipup's help, it was hard to determine where Bianca had gone.

The party was stopped at a crosswalk by a foreboding biker man. He wore a black leather jacket, and he stuffed his hands into the pockets. He looked up at the sky, but kept his gaze on Hilda and her Pokemon. A tiny yellow speck sat on his shoulder- it looked like a Pokemon as well, but Hilda wasn't sure. Shifting Oshawott so he could cling to her stomach, she pulled the Pokedex out of her bag. It had automatically updated without her having to pull it out before, but she wanted to know what this new creature was. It said that it was a joltik, one of the smallest Pokemon in the world.

"Oh, you have a Pokedex?" the man asked, smiling. "That's rad, man!"

He seemed friendly enough. "Do-do you know about the joltik on your shoulder?" Hilda muttered.

"You mean my partner? Yeah, she's my little sparky dude."

A gruff man like him chose a tiny Pokemon as his partner? Somehow Hilda didn't seem so scared anymore. "Have you seen a girl my age run through here?" she asked. "Blonde, wearing a green beret and orange shirt? Kind of flustered?"

"Of course. She's been running back and forth from the Pokemon Center to the Dreamyard all morning. She seems to have a good bond with her Pokemon. Whenever they come to the Pokemon Center, they're always following her like baby duckletts."

"Do you think she's still in the Dreamyard?"

"Haven't seen her run back through yet, so I'd guess she is."

"Thank you so much!"

"Don't mention it."

Hilda swerved past him, taking the lead instead of Lillipup. They ran down the sidewalk, making their way to the outskirts of town. They came down a path of trees, halting just as they arrived at the Dreamyard. Sure enough, there was Bianca. She returned with Tepig from a patch of grass, the fire Pokemon looking a bit worse for wear. She fed him berries, helping to patch him up. Relief washed over Hilda like a cool ocean breeze. She dropped the pillow, carrying Oshawott in both arms, and ran toward her.

"Bianca! There you are!" Hilda gasped. "I was so worried!"

Bianca looked up at her. She tilted her head down, blushing. "I guess I should've left a note, huh?" she muttered. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright. We just wanted to make sure you were okay."

Bianca leaned on the fence, sighing. "None of them stood a chance yesterday," she explained. "Not even a hope of a chance. Tepig got one move in on those gurdurrs before he switched in the basculin, and it barely did a lick of good. My first Pokemon battle after ours, and I lost. Even Cheren won once yesterday."

Hilda set Oshawott on the ground, wringing her hands together. "Well, the term 'battle' is really generic. It could mean anything in any context," she insisted. "If we count wild encounters as battles, you've won more than I have before today. I mean, how did you catch Patrat and Lilly?"

Bianca shrugged. "I did as Professor Juniper said, weakened them a bit before throwing my Poke Balls at them."

"I couldn't even do that. I had to win Lillipup and Pikachu over without fighting them. I didn't know what I was doing in order to battle with Oshawott."

"I know you, though. You'd love to never fight Pokemon like that."

Hilda stuffed her hands in her pockets.

"My dad thinks that Pokemon are too dangerous," Bianca continued. "That I somehow can't handle it. As part of this journey, I wanted to prove him wrong. I wanted to earn all eight Badges to show him that he was wrong. I'm not interested in the Pokemon League or anything like that, but the Badges would show everyone how far I got, and that I couldn't make it without my Pokemon. I can't make the first Gym unless I give it my all. I'm not doing right by anyone, people or Pokemon, unless I train."

"You don't have to hide the fact that you're training from us. We could all train together, if you wanted."

Bianca smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I guess I could've just done that," she realized. "Today after lunch, let's all head back here to train."

Hilda gave her a thumbs up. "Sounds like a plan," she agreed.

A strange sound alerted them to the other side of the fence. They peered through the gaps, spotting a strange Pokemon. It looked like a bean, with a roundish nose. It was pink, with a flower pattern on it. It floated around lazily, creating spouts of mist occasionally. Both girls whipped their Pokedexes out to record it, gasping at what they found.

"It's a munna," Bianca gasped, a hand over her mouth. "It releases pink mist when it absorbs good dreams. I think it's a rare one."

Hilda excitedly tapped her feet on the ground. "Then we definitely have to catch it!" she whispered. "One of us, at least!"

"Oh, send me over first! I can't climb things as well."

Hilda cupped her hands, giving Bianca a foothold. She hoisted her up, allowing Bianca to climb over the fence. Hilda picked up Tepig, tossing him over for Bianca to catch. He landed safely in her expecting arms. Bianca set him on the ground, prepared to battle, but halted when a voice sounded in the area.

A man walked through, grumbling incoherently. He was wearing a Team Plasma uniform, and from Hilda's knowledge, that couldn't mean anything good.

"What's he saying?" Hilda asked.

"Something about collecting...moon juice, I think?" Bianca muttered.

The Plasma man stomped over to the munna. He lifted his leg, giving the munna a firm kick. The Pokemon flew backward, nearly hitting a tree. Hilda and Bianca covered their mouths in shock and disgust. Never had they witnessed a person do something like that.

"C'mon, release your weird mist stuff aleady!" the Plasma man yelled.

"Stop it! You're hurting it!" Bianca shouted.

The Plasma man halted in his vile quest. He turned and faced her, scowling. "It's just a young little Trainer, I see," he scoffed. "What right do you have judging me? You Trainers are always hurting your Pokemon. The concept of battling and catching is horrid and wrong! You should all be ashamed!"

Hilda started climbing the fence, her boots slipping as she struggled upward. There was no way she could get over to help before anything happened.

"Um, um...leave now! Cease and desist!" Bianca spat. "I won't let you hurt this munna!"

"Oh, you won't let me, eh?" the man snarled. "Well, we'll see about that!"

He tossed out a Poke Ball, releasing a patrat. It seemed antsy and agitated, even more so than patrats usually did. Perhaps with two more battles, it would evolve. Meaning that this man used this patrat in battle often. And the idea that he even had a patrat at all sealed the deal that Team Plasma did not care for Pokemon.

"Patrat, bide your time!" the Plasma man shouted.

"Tepig, use Ember!" Bianca commanded.

The patrat stayed put, becoming angrier. A spout of flame rose from Tepig's snout, hitting the patrat straight on. The two of them balked, unsure of what to do next. How much power would this next energy blast have? Would it be stronger since it was close to evolving? They could hardly fathom it.

"Oh! I've got it!" Bianca gasped. She pulled a capsule-like object out of her bag, throwing it at Tepig. A purple aura surrounded him, and he stiffened up a bit more.

"We're alright. That thing increases your defense," Bianca insisted. "We'll be okay."

The patrat released energy, shooting it at Tepig. It landed square on him, forcing him back toward Bianca's feet. He staggered up, shaking in fear. Bianca gave him an Oran berry for extra strength.

"You're not running away, yet?" the Plasma man sneered.

"I'm not going to be bullied by someone like you!" Bianca argued. "Tepig, quick attack!"

"Patrat, crunch on him!"

Tepig got the first move in, racing forward and heavily tackling the patrat. The patrat skidded several feet back, staggering up. It leapt forward and bit him on the back, digging in hard. Tepig threw it off, scrunching back a little. Every one of the patrat's moves was really powerful. This battle was a tricky one.

"We're alright. I think we're whittling it down," Bianca muttered. "Just a bit more, I think."

"You're very hopeful, little girl," the Plasma man snarled. "But you better back of now."

Bianca clenched her fists. "We won't give up."

She gave a Sitrus berry to Tepig, and commanded, "Use Ember again!"

"Crunch it!" the Plasma man yelled.

The patrat leapt forward to bite him, but Tepig managed to get out of the way. He charged up a powerful burst of flame, shooting it at the patrat. It was more powerful than usual, a lucky shot indeed. It hit the patrat straight on, knocking it out. The Plasma man sighed, taking the patrat back into the Poke Ball.

"You're determined, I'll give you that," the Plasma man huffed. "But I'm not letting you get in the way."

Tepig stood in front of Bianca, glaring at him despite how scared he was.

The Plasma man fished through his pocket, and then his other one. He looked up sheepishly. "...I forgot my other Pokemon...," he stammered.

Hilda saw her opportunity. She slowly made her way up the fence.

A strange mist suddenly surrounded them all. Hilda felt lightheaded, and she saw that Bianca and the Plasma man looked the same. It took all her energy to keep from falling down. Several guys descended upon them, each in the same robes as the Plasma leaders from before. They held stern glances toward the Plasma man, great fury hidden in them.

"You have disappointed us greatly," the men told him. "You are weak and pathetic, unable to beat some Trainer's tiny Starter Pokemon. Perhaps you should return to base now, before we double your punishment tenfold."

The Plasma man trembled in fear. "Y-you're right, I should head back," he decided. "You win this one, kid. But you got lucky."

The Plasma man ran off into the trees, far from sight. Soon Hilda's head cleared up, and she jumped to the ground. A woman in a labcoat ran up to the building, brushing her long black hair out of her face.

"Are you two okay?" the woman asked.

Hilda gave a curt nod. "Did you feel that?" she asked.

"I wasn't close enough for the stronger sensations you had, but I felt something. I also heard their voices, as well."

Bianca picked up Tepig, staggering back to the fence. Now another Pokemon had arrived, floating up to the munna and nuzzling it. This Pokemon was a bigger bean shape, with a pink head and purple body. Mist constantly floated out of its nose, nearly encircling everything around it. The Pokedex identified it as a musharna- she must have been the munna's mother.

"This munna was here...and a Plasma guy hurt it... and then this musharna...," Bianca stammered.

The woman walked up to a tree blocking the entryway. She took out a Poke Ball, releasing a purrloin from it. The purrloin summoned a great bout of slashing energy, cutting the tree down. With the entryway open, Bianca rushed back out.

"Those men were mere illusions, meant to chase that man away," the woman explained. "Munna and musharna are dream Pokemon, weaving illusions in people near them. Much of their physiology and biology is still unknown, however. We barely get a good chance to study them as it is."

Oshawott excitedly waved to her, barking just a bit. He seemed to recognize her.

"Oh, so you're a friend of Professor Juniper!" Hilda realized.

The woman fixed her glasses. "Yes, the two of us have known each other for quite some time. I'm sorry about the lack of formal introduction," she confirmed. "My name is Fennel. I study dreams in Pokemon. I must say, I'm glad you two weren't hurt too badly."

"Yeah, I'm still shaking from it," Bianca muttered. "His Pokemon was really close to evolving, I could tell. I'm still surprised that Tepig and I were able to beat it."

A strange sound came up once again. The munna and musharna floated up to them, hovering by the entryway. They gave each other one last nuzzle, and then the munna floated over to Bianca's side. It blew a puff of mist into her face, giggling as she recoiled.

"You're very welcome," Bianca smiled. "I'm glad I could help."

The mist surrounded them again, causing them to become lightheaded. They were shown an image of Bianca, standing tall and confident. She was battling someone else's purrloin, a wide smile on her face. The Pokemon she had sent out to battle was a munna. After the little scene ended, the mist faded once again.

"Bianca, I think that munna wants to join you," Hilda gasped.

Bianca grabbed a Poke Ball out of her bag. She looked back at the musharna, who gave her a sure nod. Bianca tapped the Poke Ball on the munna's forehead, collecting it inside. The Poke Ball shook three times before clicking closed.

"Thank you, momma musharna!" Bianca beamed. "I promise I'll take good care of your baby!"

The three of them walked away together, making their way down the path out of the Dreamyard. Hilda slapped Bianca on the back, causing her to jump a bit.

"What was that for?" Bianca wondered.

"This town's Gym should be a cakewalk for you," Hilda insisted. "I mean, after fighting that guy, you should have nothing to worry about."

Bianca shrugged, setting a hand behind her neck. "Maybe you're right."

* * *

Hilda and Bianca made their way to the route house where Cheren waited for them. He paced around the entryway, looking up when they arrived. He ran over to them, nearly coming in for a hug before halting awkwardly.

"I'm sorry I didn't mention anything earlier," Bianca muttered sheepishly. "I was out training all morning."

"You guys took a long time getting out here," Cheren scoffed, arms crossed. "Did you run into trouble?"

Hilda jumped up excitedly. "Oh you should've been there, Cheren!" she exclaimed. "Bianca had to face against a Plasma guy, and it was just her and Tepig, and they chased him out of there and caught a munna!"

"A munna? What's that?"

Bianca released Munna from the Poke Ball. Munna rubbed against her cheek, cooing happily.

"She's really friendly to me so far," Bianca cheered. "None of my other Pokemon were like that before. Maybe there's something to catching them through kindness."

Her shoulders slumped down, and she let out a heavy sigh. Hilda set a hand on her back, concerned for her. "What are you thinking about now?" she asked.

"You know, I didn't exactly agree with Team Plasma's ideals, but I did think that they had a reason to exist," Bianca muttered. "But after how that guy treated Munna...and the fact that he had a powerful patrat around...no, they're no good."

"It's nothing we need to worry about," Cheren promised her. "Let's just focus on training so we can win our first Badge."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten: Striaton Gym Battle

The three of them spent the next few days studying at the Trainer School and training in the Dreamyard. They worked on new battle strategies together, honing the skills of each of their Pokemon. At the end of the week, they all felt pretty confident that they were strong enough for the Gym. Now all they had to do was find it.

One morning they made their way to the Trainer School, hoping to ask Lucy about where the Gym was. Hilda spotted N walking out of the fancy restaurant, petting the purrloin sitting on his shoulder. She waved him over, and he stopped to look at them.

"Long time no see," N smiled. "How are you three doing?"

"We're just fine," Hilda told him. "We've been working at the Training School for a while now, getting ready for the Gym."

"That's very nice. You must have made some progress, right?"

"We know a lot more about Pokemon battles than before, and our Pokemon have also gotten a lot stronger. We're definitely ready now."

Bianca and Cheren turned around, taking up Hilda's side. "Hello, N. How have you been?" she asked.

"I'm good," N told her. "I recently won my first Badge here."

"We're not interested in small talk," Cheren argued, sharing the same grumpy stare as Snivy. "In fact, we were busy looking for the Gym."

N furrowed his brow in confusion, looking at the restaurant's sign. The three of them looked in the same direction, noticing an interesting shape. It resembled a Poke Ball, but with some kind of pointed mark at the bottom like a lightning bolt. According to the Trainer School notes, that was the symbol of the Gyms.

"Oh, would you look at that," Bianca mused, a finger on her chin.

"The Gym is in a restaurant?" Hilda wondered.

"The Triplets have the finest cuisine, I'm told," N continued. "They give a discount to Badge holders. I'm inclined to try it out, but I have work that simply can't wait. Maybe later I'll give it a shot."

Cheren fixed his glasses. "I already don't take them seriously," he scoffed. "It should be a clean sweep."

N shrugged. "If you believe so," he decided. "Word of advice, though. The check-in man at the front of the Gym- he doubles as a waiter- will ask you which Pokemon you want to use for the battle. You can only use one, and I suggest that you don't have it be your Starter Pokemon."

"And why shouldn't it be our Starters?"

"You'll have a better advantage if it isn't."

N walked past them, brushing green hair off his shoulder. "I need to head to Nacrene City now. I wish you luck," he told them. "Oh, and be gentle with your Pokemon. I don't want them to get too hurt."

"We'll be careful," Hilda promised him.

The three of them looked up at the restaurant. Suddenly this unassuming building looked so foreboding. This was the start of their oncoming destinies. This would determine if they were ready to face what was up ahead. They linked arms, walking in together.

The interior of the restaurant was nicely decorated. Fancy tables and chairs were set up all over the place, save for one main aisle leading to the kitchen. The walls had a comforting satin color to them, accompanied by atmospheric candles. People and Pokemon sat at the tables, munching on gourmet cuisine. Waiters came up to the tables occasionally, asking for meals or bringing them up. None of this seemed at all like what a Gym was supposed to be.

They were greeted by an elderly man with glasses. He had a soft expression on his face, and he seemed happy to greet them. He handed them each a bottle of water, welcoming them to the restaurant.

"Greetings children, and welcome to our humble establishment," the man said. "May I interest you in a table? Or are you here about the Gym Leaders?"

"Both," Bianca insisted. "Well, the Gym Leaders first."

"I see. Well, this must be cleared up quickly. Decide which Pokemon you're going to use for the battle, and place your other Poke Balls on the plate I have with me so I may store them for later."

Hilda recalled what N had suggested to them. She released Lillipup from the Poke Ball, putting her others on the plate. He probably had the best chance of winning for them.

"And you, miss," the man told Bianca.

Bianca released Munna from the Poke Ball, doing the same.

"Young man?"

Cheren just shoved his Poke Balls onto the plate, with Snivy sticking her tongue out at him. "Whatever comes our way, Snivy can face it," he insisted.

"Follow me, then."

Hilda picked up Lillipup, and she and her friends followed the man down the aisle. People started turning their heads toward them, chatting excitedly and pulling out their cameras. It was undoubtedly for the Gym Battle- this had to happen all the time, and yet it seemed so exciting. The man led them all the way to the kitchen, where they halted for just a moment.

"Hey boys, you have some Trainers that want to challenge you," the man announced.

A green-haired man, perhaps just a bit older than Hilda and her friends, poked his head out from the window. "We do, huh?" he muttered. "Put their Poke Balls in the PC for now. I'll get the other two out quickly."

The man nodded, walking away from them. Hilda, Cheren and Bianca, watched as three men in nice suits walked out of the kitchen to face them. The first, a man with spiky red hair, jumped out in high-speed, eager to meet them. The second, a man with blue hair that covered one eye, walked out slowly, though with a controlled gait meant to impress. The third one, the green-haired man, walked out a bit slower than the one before, his hands behind his back.

"Greetings, young Trainers!" the red-haired man announced. "My name's Chili, and these are my brothers Cress and Cilan! We are Striaton City's Gym Leaders, as well as the owners and chefs of this fine restaurant. The Triple Trio, you might call us!"

"I told you it sounded redundant," Cress sighed, pulling his hair out of his eye. "Anyway, we are the ones you need to face in order to get the badge, but we don't expect you to fight all of us. With that said...which Starters did you pick? I see the young man picked Snivy."

"I chose Tepig, and my friend Hilda here chose Oshawott," Bianca explained. "We were told not to use them for this battle, though I'm not sure why, yet."

Cilan clasped his hands together, walking up to Hilda. He shook her hand vigorously, while keeping his meek posture. "I'm pleased to meet you, Hilda," he told her. "My pansage and I are pleased to be battling you,"

Pansage? That sounded like a grass type Pokemon. Hilda's eyes widened in realization. "You use grass-type Pokemon, right?" she gasped.

"That's right," Cilan confirmed.

Cheren gulped. "And you use fire-types?" he muttered, pointing at Chili.

"Of course!" Chili insisted.

"And I am a proud user of water-types," Cress pointed out.

"You want to get an advantage over us," Bianca huffed. "That's so tricky."

Cilan shrugged. "It's only to give you a fair amount of challenge," he insisted. "You have to plan accordingly for these things."

Chili noted the distress in Cheren's eyes. "We understand if you didn't know right away," he explained. "We'll let you switch your Pokemon just this once, if you want."

Cheren shook his head. "I need to work around this," he argued. "We shouldn't waste time over it,"

"But don't you want your best chance?" Hilda wondered.

"We'll see how it goes. If it doesn't work out, I'll go back in here later and fight him again."

Chili snapped his fingers, silencing the shocked audience. A lever activated around them, and the floor suddenly began to separate. The tables pulled away from the aisle, and the floor sank to a far level. The Triplets led them down to this level, their steps echoing the farther down they went. A crowd gathered above them, flashing their cameras and recording their movements. Everyone was gearing up for the battle.

Cress halted Hilda and Bianca, allowing Chili and Cress to enter the Gym Floor. "This should be interesting," he noted. "Although I'm pretty sure he won't last a minute in there."

"This is your last chance," Chili insisted.

Cheren sent Snivy out to battle. "We can do this," he argued.

Chili shook his head. "Alright, let's begin," he decided. He grabbed a Poke Ball out of his pocket, releasing the Pokemon inside. It was a simian, with yellowish skin and red fur. A tuft of fur stood up, slightly curled like a flame. It was Pansear. Snivy would be at a great disadvantage compared to a fire-type like that.

"Pansear, use Ember!" Chili shouted.

"Snivy, Leaf Tail!" Cheren commanded.

Snivy flicked her tail about, shooting leaves at Pansear. They landed squarely on him, knocking him back just a tiny bit. Pansear let loose a flame from his tail, hitting it square on Snivy. She fell backward, wincing at this move.

"Leaf Dance!" Cheren gasped.

"Ember, again!" Chili shouted.

Snivy got up, spinning in a circle and summoning leaves around her. She narrowly dodged the next spout of fire.

"Leaf Dance, again!" Cheren hissed nervously.

"Work Up!" Chili commanded.

Snivy spun around once more. Pansear let out a cry, summoning energy around itself.

Hilda and Bianca watched in worry. It was a game of skitty and azurill, wasn't it? Cheren had to make another move if this battle was going to go anywhere.

"Snivy, Quick Attack!" Cheren shouted.

"Incinerate!" Chili shouted.

Snivy narrowly dodged the long spout of flame that shot at her. She sped up to Pansear, crashing into him. He skidded into a wall, crumpling down before getting up again. They seemed to both be in the same condition.

Then Chili pulled something out of his bag. It was a pink spray vial, similar to the other medicines they had seen used before. He sprayed it over Pansear, restoring his energy. Cheren fumbled through his pocket, grabbing a purple spray and using it on Snivy.

"What kind of medicine did Chili use on Pansear?" Bianca wondered.

"That was a Hyper Potion," Cilan explained. "They're more effective than the normal medicines you find at the shops."

"They're super helpful for the Gym Leaders," Hilda sighed.

The Pokemon got back into ready battle position. "Pansear, incinerate!" Chili shouted.

"Quick attack!" Cheren commanded.

Snivy got the first move in. She lunged at Pansear, knocking him into the wall once more. Pansear summoned great fire from his tail, hitting Snivy straight on. Cheren quickly fed her a Sitrus berry.

"Quick attack again!" Cheren shouted.

"Ember!" Chili shouted.

Snivy rammed into Pansear once again, just narrowly missing the bout of fire he produced. Cheren trembled madly at this point, but Chili's clenched fists proved that he was making progress.

"Darn, I only had one Hyper Potion on me," Chili sighed.

"Dear brother, I told you to always carry more," Cress sniggered. "I've got at least seven on me, and Cilan has eight. Perhaps we should lend you one. Oh, but wait, we're not allowed to interfere in the battle. My bad."

Chili shook it off. "Pansear, Incinerate!" he shouted.

"Quick attack!" Cheren commanded.

Snivy rushed forward once more, knocking Pansear into the wall. Pansear didn't get a chance to use his move- he had been knocked out. Chili sighed, taking him back into the Poke Ball.

"I'm impressed, kid," Chili admitted. "Let's wait on the sidelines, okay?"

Cheren nodded shakily. He scooped a proud Snivy into his arms, stumbling back over to his friends. Hilda noticed pit stains on his jacket, but she didn't need those to tell her of the intense battle she witnessed.

Cilan adjusted his shirt collar, walking onto the Gym floor. "I suppose I'm next," he muttered. "You should bring your lillipup forward."

Hilda nodded, walking onto the Gym floor. She set Lillipup on the ground, and Cilan released Pansage. He had a similar build to Pansear, except that his fur was green, with the top resembling a garden bush. Hilda set her hands in her pockets, prepared to pull out any medicines and berries she needed to.

"Pansage! Razor Leaf!" Cilan shouted.

"Lillipup, bite him!" Hilda commanded.

Pansage summoned leaves around him, firing them all at Lillipup. They hit him square on, causing him to recoil a bit. He leapt forward, biting Pansage on the arm before ducking away.

"Bite him again!" Hilda shouted.

"Magical Leaf!" Cilan commanded.

Lillipup got in the first move, biting Pansage on the leg before retreating. Pansage scrunched down, worried about attacking once again. Hilda didn't like how sad he looked. Did she really have to knock out the Gym Leader's Pokemon?

"Lillipup, roar!" Hilda shouted.

"Magical Leaf!" Cilan shouted.

Lillipup let out a mighty growl-roar, but it didn't seem to do anything. Before Hilda could fathom the reason why, the multicolored leaves struck Lillipup, shoving him toward her feet. She pulled out a Potion, spraying it on him and renewing his energy.

Maybe there was no way out of it. She'd have to knock out the Pansage.

"Tackle him!" Hilda shouted.

"Razor Leaf!" Cilan shouted.

Pansage sent out the flying leaves once again. Lillipup narrowly avoided the attack, rushing in and ramming Pansage in the chest. He sent him flying into a wall, left only to stagger back up. Cilan dug through his pocket for a Hyper Potion, only for it to fall on the ground.

"Magical leaf!" Cilan grimaced.

"Bite him!" Hilda commanded.

Lillipup got the first move in, biting Pansage on the tail. It was a powerful attack, enough to knock out Pansage. Cilan took him back into the Poke Ball, sighing, but smiling at her.

"I'm sorry," Hilda muttered, head bowed low.

"You don't need to apologize for winning," Cilan explained. "You and your Pokemon have tight reflexes. Certainly better than mine."

Lillipup rushed into Hilda's arms, and she walked back over to her friends. Somehow Cilan's words didn't make her feel better. She would have to do this if she wanted to keep moving forward. But it didn't sit quite right with her. They didn't need to win battles that way, right?

"I guess we're up next, Munna," Bianca muttered, stepping onto the Gym Floor.

Cress walked up, taking out Panpour. This Pokemon had blue fur, the tufts on his head forming what looked like water drops or a raincloud.

"Panpour, lick her!" Cress shouted.

"Munna, yawn!" Bianca commanded.

Munna let out a tiny yawn, which wouldn't mean too much in any normal situation, but turned out to be contagious. Panpour grabbed her in mid-air, licking the side of her body. Bianca scrunched her face at this.

"Munna, use Psywave!" she added.

"Water Pulse!" Cress commanded.

Munna released a pulse of energy, shooting it at Panpour. The Pokemon slid several feet, bruised but otherwise alright. He released a pulse of water from his tail, shooting it at Munna. She was knocked back, flying for a bit before righting herself. It was at this point that Panpour ceased movement altogether, lulled into sleep. He could still fight, maybe, but sleep seemed to take precedence.

Cress fished his pockets for a medicine, grumbling when he couldn't find it.

"'Be prepared', huh?" Chili scoffed, arms crossed. "Who was it that didn't bring an Awakening?"

"Shut up," Cress spat.

Bianca threw her fist up heroicly. "Munna, use Psybeam!" she cheered.

Munna released a beam of energy fromher body, shooting it at Panpour. Since Panpour couldn't move, he was hit directly with it. He fell to the ground, any possible energy spent. Cress sighed, taking him back into the Poke Ball. Everyone stared at this, impressed by the powerful move.

The Triplets formed a line, giving them a round of applause. "Congratulations," Chili announced. "You all did a very excellent job, today. You know what that means, right?"

Bianca gasped, holding onto Munna. "Do we get our Badges now?"

Cilan pulled a case out of his pocket, opening it up and revealing three Badges. The Badges each were three diamond shapes connected together, the diamonds' being different colors of red, green and blue to represent the Triplets.

"The Trio Badge will allow you access to the next route onward to Nacrene City, and allow you to buy more from the shops," Cilan explained. "Stronger Pokemon will also obey you now. I'd say you definitely earned them."

The three friends high-fived each other, congratulating themselves on a job well done.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven: C-Gear

After the battle, Hilda called her mom up on the XTranseiver. Everyone had to know the news of their victory, at least, everyone Hilda cared about. The minute her mother came onto the line, she showed off her shiny new Badge, as well as had Oshawott and Lillipup talk to her as well. (As best as they could, at least.)

"Oh honey, I'm so proud of you!" Hilda's mother cheered. "My little girl's going to be a proud Trainer before we know it!"

Hilda blushed. "Thanks, mom."

"Oh, I just remembered. I think I saw you on the news earlier, or was it Trainer Feature? Anyway, they mentioned you on TV and how your party was forming."

She had been on TV, even? "I'm guessing you want to see my rare Pokemon, huh?" she asked.

"It's up to you, of course," her mother insisted.

No, this attention was something Hilda had to get used to. She set Lillipup on the ground, picking up Pikachu and cradling her in one arm. "Hey Pikachu, this is my mom," she told her. "Why don't you tell her hi?"

Pikachu flicked her ears in curiosity, but she chirped out a greeting.

There was a minute of silence. And then Hilda's mother gasped, "So the TV wasn't mistaken. You did catch a Pikachu."

"She was in trouble when I found her," Hilda explained. "I told her I could help. My Pokemon and I are the only things she really trusts right now."

"Why are you acting so bashful? I'm surprised you're not toting her around more. You should be proud that you have a pikachu."

Hilda shrugged. "It's complicated. Have you heard anything about Team Plasma? Their motives, or stuff like that?"

"I think we had a group of weird people come by, looking like knights."

"That would be them."

"Yeah, about the day after you guys left home. They came around passing flyers, telling us that we had to release our Pokemon. Honey, those poor creatures looked like they're suffering. I'm not sure what to think about it."

"You don't have to think too hard. They're bad guys, through and through. My first day out, when we were trying to catch Pokemon, one of them tried to take Oshawott from me. Well, he at least threatened to. He knew I was just starting out, that I hadn't really done anything, but he accused me of abusing him. If I looked any tougher to him, he definitely would've tried to run off with my Pokemon. And that's not all. Before he left, he told me that he had other Pokemon to find- and then we came across Pikachu. I have no doubt that she was the Pokemon that he was looking for."

"Oh my, I can't believe that happened to you. But...that's not it, is it?"

"Bianca faced one of them as well. She was protecting a munna that he was kicking for its Dream Mist. She had to battle him in order to chase him off, and even then, it was only the mother musharna that really saved the day."

"She had to battle him? He had Pokemon?"

Hilda nodded. "He had a patrat, one that was close to evolving as well. There's something deeper going on, but I'm not sure what it is. And I think...I think they tried to hurt Pikachu."

Pikachu folded her ears down, sighing.

"In any other circumstance, I'd tote her around like you said," Hilda concluded. "But if I do that, Team Plasma will be on my back. And if they're as strong as that guy's patrat, or if they send out evolved forms of Pokemon, I'm not ready to stand a chance against them."

"I see. Well honey, I think you have no choice but to really train your Pokemon. You and your friends. Oh, I wish I didn't have to tell you that."

"I mean, of course. We have to take on the Gyms. But you mean that we have to get stronger before then, right?"

"Yes. I don't want you to have to go through that, believe me. But you three seem to be the only ones aware of what's really going on, and I can tell you want to put a stop to it. I'll tell Professor Juniper what's going on, so she can help you. Just be ready if more happens, and be careful, okay?"

That was a big order. Hilda didn't even know how far the buneary hole went when it came to Team Plasma. She had no idea what they really wanted, or why they went after Pikachu. But her mother had a point. Hilda did want to stop it, and Cheren and Bianca were on her side as well. They could do that, or at least inform more people so they could help.

"We can do that," Hilda promised. "And we will be careful."

"Remember to call me if anything comes up. I want to know what's going on," her mother insisted.

"Of course. I love you."

"I love you too, sweetie."

Hilda hung up. She let out a heavy sigh. She hadn't wanted the call to turn dark like that, but it did feel good to have her mom know what was going on.

"Hilda, the Triplets are making us lunch!" Bianca shouted.

Hilda looked up at her. "I thought we had to pay," she wondered.

"It's their treat, they told us. Now come on, before it gets cold!"

Hilda and her Pokemon followed Bianca to a window table, where Cheren and the rest of their party waited. The Triplets were putting down plates for them, each containing various pastries. Their Pokemon received strange pastry treats, and it looked like they couldn't get enough of them.

"I hope the food is to your liking," Cilan told them

"I like it so far," Cheren insisted.

Hilda and Bianca took their seats. Hilda set a cake on her plate, taking a bite from it. Her eyes widened at how good it was. Strawberry, chocolate, mixed in great warmth. It was amazing.

"You're as amazing at cooking as you are at battling," she insisted.

"We're glad you like it," Chili insisted.

Cress set down plates for Hilda's Pokemon. He didn't get up right away, curiously observing Pikachu. Panpour crept near her, only to receive a warning growl.

"You know, I didn't believe all the hubub before about a Trainer having a pikachu, and for that I must apologize," Cress began. "You know she's from out of this region, don't you?"

"I figured as much," Hilda insisted.

"You see, it's as if she was planted straight into the region by accident. If Pikachu was surrounded by Trainers' Pokemon she was familiar with, she wouldn't be so cautious. For example, if I had a squirtle instead of a panpour, she would be a lot calmer and more open to interaction."

"I've been told on numerous occasions that Unova has strange Pokemon," Chili scoffed. "I don't need to hear it again."

"Do you think Pikachu was a breeder's Pokemon?" Cilan wondered. "Remember a couple months ago when a Johto breeder tried to sell me a chikorita?"

Cress chuckled. "For a ridiculous price, I might add," he replied.

"What if it's the same for her? Some breeder decided to come by, selling pikachus for a high sum?"

"It's a theory, but it still falls flat from how wary this pikachu is. Even a breeder's Pokemon would become more comfortable around our region's strange Pokemon."

Cheren fixed his glasses. "We've been wondering for a while where Pikachu came from. Do you think you'd know of someone who can help?"

Chili snapped his fingers. "Definitely Lenora," he decided. "She has files on all sorts of Pokemon. If anyone could do it, it's her. But she's all the way in Nacrene City."

"That's where we were thinking of getting answers, too," Bianca shrugged. "At least we know for sure now. Thank you very much."

"Don't mention it," Chili told her.

* * *

Hilda, Cheren and Bianca walked out of the Gym/restaurant, their Pokemon trailing behind them. A woman excitedly ran up to them, and Hilda recognized her as Fennel. She waved at her, noting the smile on her face.

"Long time no see, Fennel," Hilda greeted her.

"Same to you," Fennel replied. "Anyway, I'd like to request a favor of you. I've made a breakthrough in my studies, but in order to complete my project, I'm going to need some Dream Mist."

Bianca smiled, nudging Munna over. "It's better if you ask rather than take, we all know that," she insisted. "Munna, if you could, please."

Munna nodded. She released a puff of mist from her nose. Fennel caught this in a jar, grinning madly.

"Thank you so much," she told them. "Completing my project should be a cinch now."

Cheren set Snivy on his shoulder. "What are you working on, anyway?" he asked.

"Oh, why don't you all follow me to my lab? If this works out, every Trainer will get one anyway."

They agreed, following her across the street. They entered an apartment building, following her up several flights of stairs before stopping at one door. This door was wide open, several machines revealing themselves to them. There was a girl with glasses in there, sitting at a computer and monitoring a sleeping patrat. Hilda admitted that it looked much more pleasant when it was asleep.

"Oh, you're back, Fennel?" the girl whispered. "Come in quietly. I set him down for his nap."

"That's great!" Fennel cheered quietly. "C'mon, let's head inside."

Fennel walked in first. The three friends collected their Pokemon into their Poke Balls, ensuring that they could be as silent as possible. They walked in slowly, observing all of the machines inside.

"Did you three come for prototypes?" the girl asked. "Hello. I'm Amanita. I usually manage the Pokemon Storage System."

"You do great work," Bianca insisted silently.

Fennel put the Dream Mist into a tube, watching it fly up and settle inside various computer chips. "I think that should do it," she whispered. "Ready to give it a try, Amanita?"

Amanita nodded, fiddling with her Poketch. There was a click, and a screen filled with hearts came up. "According to the computer, our patrat is in the REM stage," she began. "This is the perfect opportunity. I'm connecting the C-Gear with the computer now."

She used her Poketch to scan the patrat. On the computer, a strange image came up. It was in first person view, depicting the patrat as it ran around chasing after pidoves. This dream seemed pleasant- at least, for the patrat.

"It works! I don't believe it!" Fennel screeched silently.

"Wait, does that thing scan dreams?" Cheren asked.

Fennel grabbed several computer chips, installing them into their Poketches. "We introduce you to the C-Gear, the first machine that lets you see into Pokemon's dreams," she explained. "We wanted to figure out how we could grow closer to Pokemon, and we figured that the first step was to view their dreams and figure out their desires through that."

"That's incredible," Hilda gasped. "How does it work?"

"Simple- you scan a sleeping Pokemon, and the Poketch screen lets you see what they're dreaming about."

"Oh how wonderful!" Bianca mused. "I'm sure Tepig has some interesting dreams. Lilly too, since she seems to twitch before she wakes up."

"Be sure to test it out for us," Amanita asked them. "We want to know what it's fully capable of, okay?"

The three of them nodded, exiting the apartment room.

* * *

None of them could really sleep that night. They were too excited over their earlier victory to sleep. All they could do was chat about how well they did, or how tricky things seemed until they snatched that victory. Among their activities that night, there was also the abundant amount of late-night programming, including a segment of "Alder's Adventures" that explored his travels through dark caves. (His bright-red hair made him stand out in the dark.)

Their Pokemon had a much easier time getting to sleep. They had all gathered in a corner, sleeping on top of one another in a pile. Pikachu slept outside of this pile, though her paw touched Lillipup just a tiny bit. The only Pokemon still active was Munna, but she continuously sank lower to the ground with every passing minute.

"Hey, we should try out the C-Gear," Bianca decided. "It would be great to look into the dreams of our Pokemon."

"We do have a good opportunity right now," Cheren thought, "but it would be tricky to remove them from the pile without disturbing them."

"We can all test it on Pikachu," Hilda suggested. "It's easy enough for us to scan her."

Cheren and Bianca nodded in agreement.

They all fiddled with their Poketches, switching through their apps until they reached the one for C-Gear controls. They scanned Pikachu, connecting her dreams with their Poketch screens. Their screens depicted an interesting scene- bright blue skies, wide forests, with great flocks of strange bird Pokemon flying from tree-to-tree. They hadn't seen Pokemon like those here, but from picture books they read as children, the Pokemon seemed to resemble starlies- although the image wasn't quite clear, so they could very well be pigeots. Pikachu roamed about the fields, flanked by two pichus. A raichu trailed just behind her, keeping his guard up and making sure the others were safe.

"Oh, is that her family?" Bianca gasped silently. "Aw, they look so cute together!"

Hilda lowered her Poketch, sympathy filling her stomach. There was no doubt about it. Somewhere out there, Pikachu had a family. A mate and two children that desperately needed her. How often did Pikachu think back on them? How long had she missed them? How long had she been in Unova? Hilda didn't have enough information to determine that- and it killed her to not have the answers.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve: Standoff in Wellspring Cave

Having won the Trio Badges, the three of them decided that it was time to set off for Nacrene City. They visited the Trainer School first thing in the morning, wanting to see Lucy and Leroy before they left. Hilda noticed that Cheren seemed contemplative this morning, barely talking when she and Bianca talked. She always found it tricky to determine exactly what he was thinking about.

They spotted Lucy welcoming Trainers into the school, beckoning Leroy goodbye as well. Hilda ran up to them before they could do anything too soon.

"Good morning, you three," Lucy greeted them. "I heard about your victory at the Gym yesterday. You three did an excellent job. I'm not sure you need anything more from the school."

"We were going to head to Nacrene City next," Hilda explained. "But we wanted to say goodbye before we left. Thanks for all the help you've given us."

"I guess I'm trailing just behind you," Leroy shrugged, holding onto Woobat. "I was just about to challenge the Gym. I'm sure Woobat and I can take them on easy."

"Which Starter did you choose?" Bianca wondered.

Leroy gasped, digging through his bag and pulling out a Poke Ball. "Oh man, I can't believe it didn't occur me to show you! I chose Oshawott!"

He released the Pokemon from the Poke Ball. Out popped an oshawott, his ears flicking about in curiosity. This one seemed more calm and collected than Hilda's Starter.

Hilda dug through her bag, taking out a Poke Ball. She released Oshawott, letting him mingle with Leroy's oshawott for a bit. "If you're using Woobat, then you should be good for the battle," she determined.

"You mean for the trick of the Gym? Yeah, that's precisely why I wanted to use Woobat. If it were anything else, I'd use my Starter."

"I get how that is. I haven't been able to get my oshawott into an actual battle yet."

Lucy tapped a finger to her chin. "You three should check out the Daycare just up the road," she said. "Chrissy's mother works there. I think she'd like it if you said goodbye to her."

"Oh of course!" Hilda agreed. "And Pikachu needs to bid Audino farewell, too. Thanks for reminding me!"

Bianca fixed her hat. "I think the Daycare is a wonderful place for us to visit before we leave," she agreed. "Goodbye! And thanks for all your help!"

"Don't mention it," Leroy replied. "And I hope we get to see each other around."

Hilda and Bianca waved them goodbye, and Cheren gave his curt wave. Hilda carried Oshawott in her arm, following her friends into the route house. The bulletin board read out their recent victory, claiming that three young trainers won agains the Triplets. Oshawott let out his own little cheer, and Hilda gave him a scratch on the head. They walked out the other side of the route house, coming upon two little buildings by the road. One was a regular daycare, where small schoolchildren played on the swings and slides with their Pokemon. There was another daycare next to it, where only Pokemon seemed to play. Chrissy sat along the gate of this daycare, holding a pail filled with berries.

"So does her mom work at the human daycare or the Pokemon daycare?" Bianca wondered. "I can go up and ask her."

Bianca split away from them to ask her. Hilda was about to follow her, only for Cheren to grab her on the shoulder. His head was bent down slightly, steely determination in his gaze. He walked up the road, several feet past each facility. Hilda decided to follow him, unsure of what to think. Only when she walked up there, noting how fired up he seemed, did she realize what he wanted.

"Snivy versus Oshawott, you and me!" Cheren shouted. "We need to see which of us is closer to the Pokemon League!"

Hilda squinted at him. "That doesn't seem like a fair fight," she argued. "And I'm not really thinking about the Pokemon League."

"You were just talking about how Oshawott hasn't been in a real battle yet, so this is the perfect opportunity for him to get some practice in!"

"Sure, but I don't want him facing a grueling task. I don't want to push him too far just yet. And to be honest...well…"

"Well what? Go ahead and tell me."

 _Like you should with me,_ Hilda wondered. She continued, "I didn't really like how you pushed Snivy in that battle yesterday. I feel like she would've been much happier if she wasn't in there at all."

Cheren relaxed his stance, raising a brow. "It turned out okay, didn't it?"

"That's not the point. I feel like you pushed her too hard. She shouldn't have been in a battle like that. I don't want my Pokemon facing against others they're weaker toward."

"Maybe, but you know how ready she is to fight all the time. I couldn't just not let her fight. She wouldn't be happy, then."

"I know she wouldn't be very happy if she lost."

Cheren sighed, nodding. "I'll make sure to do more research in the future before battling the Gyms," he promised. "In the meanwhile, we can have a different kind of battle."

He pulled a Poke Ball out, releasing Pidove. The bird Pokemon twitched his head about, observing everything around him.

"That's better," Hilda decided, setting Oshawott on the ground. "I promise that we'll go easy on you and Pidove."

"Don't go easy on me," Cheren argued. "I don't want anyone going easy on me. I'm not going to get stronger that way."

A commotion started behind them. Hilda and Cheren scooped up their Pokemon, leaping onto the side of the road. Two Team Plasma members ran past, holding an audino in their grasp. The audino spotted Hilda, reaching his paws out to him. She immediately recognized him as Chrissy's Pokemon.

"They've sacked the daycares!" Hilda gasped. "We need to go after them!"

Cheren nodded. "I've got your back!"

They raced down the road, following the Team Plasma members. They veered off the road, making their way to a nearby cave. Hilda and Cheren halted for a moment, gulping at the thought of entering such a place. They gathered up their courage, leaping inside. Hilda ducked her head from woobats as Cheren wove past roggenrolas, and the two of them eventually found the Plasma members. They set Audino on the ground, stopping to catch their breaths.

"This is a good place for us to pause," the woman decided. "We can rendezvous with the others and meet up with the Sages later."

"All those Pokemon, and we could only snag an audino," the man spat. "This thing's not going to last in the wild anymore. What are we supposed to do?"

"Maybe give it to the young King. He loves caring for weak Pokemon. It's all I can think of without ditching it altogether."

Cheren clenched his fists. "Hey jerks!" he shouted. "Give us back that audino! Right now!"

The Plasma members whipped their heads toward them, gasping and scowling. They stood up, pulling Poke Balls out of their pockets. They were primed for battle, but so were Hilda and Cheren.

"You two punk kids need a lesson learned in how tough Team Plasma is!" the woman shouted. "We're going to steal your Pokemon if you lose!"

"Well we're not going to lose," Hilda argued. "Bring it on!"

The Plasma members pressed the buttons on their Poke Balls, releasing purrloins.

"Purrloin, scratch the oshawott!" the woman shouted.

"Pidove, send up a gust of wind!" Cheren commanded.

"Oshawott, razor shell on the man's purrloin!" Hilda commanded.

"Leer the pidove!" the man ordered.

The man's purrloin pounced at Pidove, frightening him just a bit. The woman's purrloin scratched Oshawott, knocking him back and causing him to trip. Pidove flapped his wings rapidly, creating a gust of wind behind the opponents' team, damaging them. Oshawott scrambled back to his feet, taking his scalchop off his chest. He threw it at the man's purrloin, giving it a mighty scratch, and he quickly picked it back up again.

"Slash the oshawott!" the woman shouted.

"Use Water Gun on her purrloin!" Hilda ordered.

"Scratch the pidove!" the man commanded.

"Pidove, wing attack on the man's purrloin!" Cheren shouted.

Oshawott flopped onto his belly, missing the purrloin's attack. Hilda assumed this was an accident at first, but he sprung right back up, shooting a beam of water at it. She admitted that it was a clever dillusion.

The man's purrloin scratched Pidove, causing him great injury. Pidove glided over the purrloin, scratching it with his wings. The man's purrloin fell unconscious, and the man pulled it into his Poke Ball.

"C'mon, get it together!" the woman yelled at the man. "These are two punk kids!"

Cheren dug through his pockets, trying to find a Potion. Hilda hastily handed him one, and he sprayed it on Pidove.

"We've almost got them!" Cheren gasped. "Pidove, peck that purrloin!"

"Oshawott, Water Gun!" Hilda shouted.

The woman shook frantically. "Leer! Leer!"

"Why are you using that move!?" the man asked.

"I don't know!"

The purrloin balked. Oshawott shot a stream of water at the Pokemon, and Pidove pecked it afterward. The purrloin fainted from the two attacks, and the woman took it back into the Poke Ball.

"Now give us back Audino!" Hilda argued. "That's our deal!"

The woman sighed, nudging Audino along to them. "Fine. It wouldn't survive in the wild, anyway," she spat. "Dumb punk kids."

Hilda cheered, picking up Oshawott and giving him a big hug. Cheren scratched Pidove on the head, high-fiving his friend. They took Audino by the paw, leading him out of the cave.

* * *

They walked back to the daycare facilities, spotting Chrissy crying on the steps. Bianca sat by her, trying to console her. A woman sat near her, doing the same- Hilda guessed that this was her mother. Cheren and Hilda walked up to them, presenting Audino to Chrissy. The little girl lifted her face from her hands, gasping in excitement and happiness at having her friend back.

"You saved him! I can't believe you saved him! I'm so happy!" Chrissy cheered, hugging her Pokemon.

"They ran right past us," Hilda explained. "Of course we had to chase them down. We can't let perfect partners be separated for long."

Audino purred as Chrissy scratched his head. Her mother got up, shaking both of their hands. "You seem to have a calling for uniting Trainers and Pokemon," she told them.

Hilda felt something click inside her. She hadn't know before what the meaning of her journey was. She wasn't sure what she wanted to do as a Trainer. That was still mostly true. But perhaps she could do as Chrissy's mother suggested, and unite Trainers and Pokemon somehow.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen: Petilil Dance

After saying their goodbyes to Chrissy, the three of them traveled down the road to Nacrene City. Another flying figure flew overhead, dropping fliers onto them. More Team Plasma propoganda. This time, however, Pikachu was depicted on them. She was backed up in a corner, snarling at whoever took the photo. As soon as she saw the picture, Pikachu let out a nasty growl.

"Oh my," Bianca gasped.

"Ugh, these guys make me sick!" Hilda yelled, crumpling one up and tossing it on the ground.

Cheren crossed his arms in thought. "Trainers bring out the strengths of their Pokemon," he began. "Pokemon bond with their Trainers, believing in them and responding to what their Trainer believes. That can't mean suffering. There's no way."

"We're almost to Nacrene City, so let's stop focusing on it," Hilda decided.

They continued onward, though the uncomfortable thoughts of Team Plasma refused to leave them.

* * *

Nacrene City was alive with color and music. Murals wove themselves on the walls, depicting stories of people and Pokemon. Abstract statues stood on nearly every street corner, and people would stand by them, playing their music. This brought along several patrons as well, who gladly paid to hear them play. Old warehouses lined a long street, where people and Pokemon created more art. This place seemed busier than Striaton City, if such a thing was possible.

The three of them had lunch at a cafe near the city's museum. This place, too, had a lot of art and music. People performed and gossiped, bringing to light the news of the day. A great event happened at this city's Gym, it seemed. Many people complained about it, a few even crying.

"Ugh, that watchog was crazy strong!" one girl sighed. "Tranquill is my best Pokemon, and she couldn't stand up against that thing's Super Fang."

"Wait, is that the same tranquill that knows Acrobatics?" her friend asked.

"Just the same."

"Dang."

A super-strong Pokemon belonged to this city's Gym Leader? What kind of Pokemon was Watchog like? How powerful _was_ this Super Fang ability? Dread filled Hilda's stomach at the thought of it.

"Uh oh," Hilda muttered.

Cheren tugged at his shirt collar. "It's fighting-type Pokemon we need, right?" he asked. "Let's split up and meet back at the Pokemon Center at five tonight. I'll check by the warehouses. Hilda, check by the cafe. Bianca check by the route house near Striaton City. Got it? Good."

Before Hilda or Bianca could say anything, Cheren ran off, his Pokemon trailing behind him. They both sighed at this. He always seemed to call the shots, didn't he?

"I guess there's nothing for it, though," Bianca decided. "I'm going to stay back and finish my meal. You can head on if you want."

Hilda stood up, nodding in agreement. "I'll see what I can do about Pokemon," she agreed. "If push comes to shove, we can share any fighting-type Pokemon we find."

They shook hands, and Hilda went on her way.

* * *

Hilda wasn't sure what attracted her to the nearby Pinwheel Forest. A nurse along the road told her it was home to grass and bug-type Pokemon, and she wasn't likely to find any fighting-types in there. And she didn't particularly like bug Pokemon, either. None of the matches she'd seen on TV depicted them as strong competitors. Well, maybe except Alder's volcarona- that one wiped the floor with many competitors. But she knew the likelihood of finding a volcarona was a million to one, and no one had seen one in Pinwheel Forest. Was it for Pikachu, who might've resided there for a time? It was highly unlikely that she'd ever set foot in there at all, so that couldn't be it, either.

Whatever her reasoning was, Hilda found herself wanting to peak inside the foreboding woods. Maybe she could find some good Pokemon in there to go along with the fighting-types she'd come across. Maybe they'd give her a chance at catching one, even. She decided that it was worth a look, and went inside.

It started drizzling when she went in with her Pokemon. Pikachu sighed, showing her distaste of rain. Hilda pulled an umbrella out of her bag, popping it open. Oshawott and Lillipup ran from it, frightened by this strange device. They lost this fear soon enough, and ran back to Hilda, begging her to do it again. She smiled, opening and closing the umbrella a few times to entertain them, before leaving it open and continuing on her way.

Hilda walked down the forest path, staying clear as the rain fell harder on the ground. Pikachu pressed herself against her as far as she could, while Oshawott and Lillipup splashed into nearly every puddle they could find. This contrast between her Pokemon was certainly amusing. Although, it did bring a few questions to her mind.

She'd heard that watchogs evolved from patrats. And if Lenora's watchog was a strong as they were saying, then Bianca would've had a hard time with that Plasma man if his Pokemon had already evolved. If fighting-types weren't an option, then it was necessary for them to start trying to evolve their Pokemon. Hilda wondered which of her Pokemon were getting ready to evolve. Maybe Lillipup. He seemed more exciteable than usual, bouncing around at every opportunity. Something was stirring within him that he couldn't wait to unleash, that much was for certain. Oshawott was always excited, so Hilda couldn't tell if he was getting ready to evolve. He tripped less and less every day, so maybe that was a sign. Or it could just be that the two of them were growing together. But wasn't evolution proof of their bond? And she didn't think of Pikachu evolving because she couldn't do so at this time. In the end, she was only sure of Lillipup's upcoming evolution.

She paused in the road, her thoughts interrupted by a strange sight. A large group of Pokemon resembling plant bulbs blocked the road ahead, chirping and humming curiously. They swished and swayed their leafy bodies in the rain, splashing in the puddles. They made out the rain like it was some sort of ritual to them.

According to the Pokedex, these were petilils. There were so many of them in this area, Hilda couldn't help but gasp. Usually, people only saw one or two in the wild. Was it possible for her to catch one? She shuddered at the thought- and from the chill of the rain. She dug through her bag, finding a few berries and setting them just before her feet.

One petilil spotted this, and it stepped away from the crowd. It picked at the berries for a moment, before gulping them down quickly. Hilda set her hand out, and the petilil tentatively walked closer to her.

"Hey, would you like to join my team?" Hilda asked. "I'm sure you'd be a welcome addition, and I'd like to get to know you."

The petilil nodded, hopping into her hand. Hilda grabbed a Poke Ball and tapped it on its head, taking it inside. It shook three times before clicking shut, officially adding it to her team.

"Maybe we should get back," Hilda decided. "I still need to find a fighting-type Pokemon."

She checked her Poketch, looking at the time. She grimaced once she saw it was 5:05. They couldn't have spent that long in here, could they? Hilda ran back the other way, her Pokemon following suit.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen: Warehouse Race

Hilda raced into the Pokemon Center, stopping as soon as she got through the door. She panted heavily, and Oshawott and Lillipup did the same as soon as they reached her. Pikachu was disoriented from the sudden jostling of Hilda's run- she had refused to get down from her shoulder despite this. Hilda looked up, scanning the area for her friends. Bianca was spotted on the higher levels, though why, she wasn't sure. Cheren was nowhere to be seen. Right, so at least she made it here before him.

Cheren walked through the doors soaking wet, his shoulders dipped low in disappointment. He glanced at Hilda, but said nothing. He simply strode up to the front desk, handing the nurse his Poke Balls. Hilda walked up to him, her hands clasped in curiosity.

"Didn't go well, huh?" she asked.

Cheren shook his head. "Low Kick, High Kick, Karate Chop...throhs are too tough for me just yet," he sighed. "I used Snivy at first, but one Karate Chop lowered her strength halfway. I wasted most of my Potions trying to keep Purrloin in the fight, and that did no good. I tried using Pidove, but they knocked him out before he could get a single move in."

"Oh, that's rough."

Cheren dug through his bag, sighing as he pulled out his wallet. "And I'm out of money, so I can't restock," he concluded. "I don't suppose you have any cash to lend?"

Hilda shook her head. "I spent most of it on Potions. I think I have enough for dinner for one night."

"Can't waste that. Hey, your Pokemon seem unhurt. Did you find any fighting-types on your search?"

"Not yet. I was searching for Pokemon that might help me catch one, though"

"Which one?"

Hilda pulled the Poke Ball out from her bag, releasing Petilil from inside. She bounced onto her boot, gnawing on a shoelace. Cheren scanned her with his Poketch, fiddling with some of the instruments there.

"Oh, you got the app that Leroy suggested?" Hilda wondered.

"Yeah. I caved," Cheren admitted. He smiled, and continued, "You made a good catch. This petilil knows Sleep Powder. It can put any Pokemon to sleep. Assuming you can get the first move in, you should have no trouble catching a fighting-type Pokemon."

Hilda rubbed the back of her neck, accidentally nudging Pikachu. "I'll let you use my Pokemon for the Gym Battle, if you find that you have no luck," she decided.

"No, it's all about the bonds. We can't just trade Pokemon willy-nilly."

Bianca ran downstairs, greeting them with a smile. "Guess who just completed her first Pokemon trade!" she announced.

Hilda and Cheren gasped. Bianca seemed so close to her Pokemon, though. "Which one?" Hilda asked.

"Patrat. He didn't seem to like me very much, and I met an Ace Trainer that really wanted to put in the work training him. He told me that he had many fighting-type Pokemon that they wouldn't all get the same attention, so he was willing to give one to me so they might get attention."

"What did he give you?" Cheren wondered.

Bianca released the Pokemon from a Poke Ball. Out came a weasel-like Pokemon, one that had pink and yellow fur. She studied them calmly- or perhaps she was studying their weaknesses. This was a female mienfoo they beheld.

"She's a fighting-type- just what we need," Bianca explained. "I want to spend the time training her, but we could all use her for the Gym just this once."

"Mienfoo might not readily listen to you," Cheren warned her. "She's too comfortable with her old Trainer, still. And she already went through one trade- who knows how she'll react to three or four in such a short amount of time. No, you're better off training her on your own."

Bianca nodded, patting Mienfoo on the head.

"At least it seems like you put thought into it," Cheren decided. "You wouldn't happen to have any money, would you?"

Bianca pulled her wallet out, searching through it. She grimaced and looked back at the two of them. "Apparently not," she muttered.

Cheren leaned against the counter. "What are we going to do?" he sighed.

Bianca shrugged. "This _is_ the City of Art," she suggested hopefully. "We can make something pretty that people will pay money for."

"Like what? We can't knit or paint or anything."

"We can perform. We could put on a play or something."

Hilda went up to the desk, putting her attention on the nurse. "Do you know where we could set up any performance thing in this city?" she asked.

"Anyone can use the warehouses if they wish," the nurse explained. "I believe warehouse number 26 is available for use. If you get there in time, you can claim it."

Hilda pulled away. "I'll go do that," she told her friends. "I'll come back here once I do and bring you there."

"Good luck," Cheren shrugged.

* * *

Hilda and her Pokemon raced down the street, making their way to the warehouses. They swerved past crowds of people and Pokemon making their way to their apartments, barely dodging performers standing by the statues. They passed a large statue depicting some kind of Pokemon, but they couldn't stop to clearly observe it. Time was of the essence, it seemed. She had no reason to believe that Warehouse 26 would be taken so soon, but anthing was possible, so they had to hurry. Hilda was just thankful that the rain had slowed down to a drizzle.

With her legs and throat burning from exertion, Hilda took a look back at her Pokemon. Petilil rode on Lillipup's back like a magnificent rapidash rider, though she looked quite frantic. Oshawott trailed behind them, stumbling occasionally. She then looked up next to them, finding a girl in a flowing green dress running alongside them. Her red hair was tied up in a bandanna, flowing freely in the breeze. She was flocked by a swadloon and a tympole, and a cottonee flew just above her head. A camera swung at her side, and her bag fought to slide down her shoulder.

This girl gave Hilda a glance, and it was all it took for her to narrow her eyes. She then quickened her pace, running ahead of her.

If Hilda wasn't panting, she would've gasped. They were racing to the same warehouse!

"Pikachu! Race ahead to Warehouse 26!" Hilda commanded.

Pikachu leapt off her shoulder, running ahead of them. Her pace was much quicker than that of the rest of her team, and this was with no effort. She was the fastest Pokemon that Hilda had. If she could get to the warehouse first, it was as good as theirs!

The girl's eyes frantically widened at this rule change. "Cottonee, race after her!" she shouted.

Cottonee hummed in agreement, racing ahead of them.

Soon the competitors of the race weren't Hilda and the strange girl, but Pikachu and Cottonee. The flying cotton puff used height to her advantage, getting ahead of Pikachu on several occasions. Pikachu used her surroundings to her advantage, climbing up onto rooftops and maneurvering around Cottonee to get ahead of her. They were really close the entire way there.

Eventually they reached the warehouses. Hilda counted the numbers on the front, trying to determine how close they were. 22, 23, 24, oh it was too much. She and the girl halted as they reached close to Warehouse 26, watching their Pokemon reach it. Pikachu hopped along the rooftops, climbing into the top window of Warehouse 26. She just barely made it ahead of Cottonee, winning them the rights to the warehouse.

Hilda cheered at the top of her lungs- between bouts of panting at least. She scooped her Pokemon into her arms, giving them big hugs. "We did it! We won!"

The girl slumped her shoulders, staring in disbelief as Cottonee floated somberly back.

They both stood around for a minute, catching their breaths. Hilda set her Pokemon on the ground, holding out her hand.

"What's that for?" the girl asked.

"I commend you on a job well done," Hilda explained. "Your cottonee did pretty well."

The girl patted Cottonee on the head. "She's pretty fast, huh?" she mused. "No one can beat a pikachu with smarts like that, though. Where do you even find one?"

Hilda shrugged somberly. That was the question, wasn't it?"

"Hey, what are you planning to do with this warehouse, anyway?" the girl asked.

"Oh, my friends and I wanted to do some sort of performance thing to get a little more money," Hilda explained. "We're not sure what we're doing quite yet, but we wanted to have the warehouse for it."

"I wanted to use it for a painting and photography studio. If you and your friends used the bottom level, would it be okay if I used the top?"

"I don't see why not. And we're probably not going to be here long anyway, so you can continue using it after we're done."

Pikachu called out from inside the warehouse. Hilda and the girl walked inside, discovering that the warehouse wasn't too empty. They saw Pikachu sitting on the railing on the top level, warily observing two strangers inside. The taller of the figures was a brown-haired man, wearing a green shirt and strange red-and-black striped pants. The other was a leavanny, thin and lanky, with leaves making up the crest on its head. The leavanny walked up the stairs to the top level, trying to contact an agitated Pikachu.

"Not too forward, my friend," the man laughed. "You can't startle this newcomer. I'm surprised to find her here as well, but we need to take caution."

"Pikachu, come here!" Hilda commanded.

Pikachu looked up, spotting Hilda and the rest of her Pokemon. She jumped off the railing, skirting around the leavanny and running down the stairs, coming to Hilda's side. Hilda picked her up and set her on her shoulder, staring at the man in confusion.

"You...you're not claiming this warehouse, are you sir?" the girl muttered.

"Oh no, I have another one just up ahead. I bought that one out," the man explained. "It has my name on it where the letters usually are. Does the name 'Burgh' sound familiar to you?"

Hilda thought of home, her mind coming up with a painting that hung just above her mother's bed. It depicted a group of sewaddles leaping from the trees, weaving silk ropes to slow their descent. It used a fine array of light colors, from the light blues to the leaf greens. Of course, her mother had always liked it for the personality given to each of the sewaddles. A signature had been written in the corner of the painting by the base of a leaf, though the painting itself was a clear copy meant for sale. The signature said "Burgh" as the name of the artist.

"You're Castelia City's painter, right?" Hilda asked. "'Sewaddles ad Dawn'?"

"So you've seen that one, huh?" Burgh replied. "I've been told by many that it's one of their favorites. It was one of my earlier ones, though, so I can't see why. I see too many places on the sewaddle's snouts where the paint smudged."

"It's fine, trust me. But what are you doing here?"

"I can't resist the lure of Pinwheel Forest. All the Pokemon in there have such great personalities. I enjoy meeting them, even if I never catch them. But a lot of my muse lately has been coming from Nacrene City itself, and I'm amazed by how much the city has changed since I was a kid."

"So you used to live here?"

"Precisely. And my warehouse is the same one I've had since I was a young man. Only the interior has changed since previous visits here, to accomodate what I'm trying to work on at the moment. However, Leavanny and I were attracted here by what we thought was a wild pikachu roaming the city."

Hilda scratched Pikachu on the head. "Her appearance is strange, I'll give you that."

Burgh pulled a map out of his pocket. She only caught a glimse of the region depicted on it, but could tell that it clearly wasn't Unova. He scanned the map for a moment, frowning in thought.

"So, would you be from...Hearthome City?" Burgh wondered. "I've been told that families of pikachus gather around there."

"No, I'm from Nuvema Town," Hilda replied.

Burgh dramatically slammed the map shut. "Right here in Unova, huh? But that pikachu looks a lot like a Sinnoh pikachu."

The girl looked at Pikachu, scratching her head. "She looks just like any other pikachu," she shrugged.

"I've read many books on the biology of strange Pokemon such as pikachu. Their dimensions vary slightly depending on which region they're found in, or drastically if you're comparing Hoenn pikachus to Kanto pikachus. This one seems slim enough to be from Sinnoh."

So Pikachu could be from Sinnoh? Those bird Pokemon in her dream could've been starlies after all? The idea was still hard to fathom. What would Team Plasma want to go all the way to Sinnoh just to steal a pikachu there? While pikachus are popular, they had more presence in Kanto and Johto than in Sinnoh.

"Do you think Lenora could say for certain?" Hilda wondered. "I wanted to be sure for a while now."

"She can definitely say for certain," Burgh promised her. "Lenora has the books, doesn't she?"

"Fair point."

Burgh made his way out, Leavanny following just behind him. "I hope we see each other around," he decided. "I'd like to see what kind of art you make in the following days."

Hilda and Pikachu tentatively waved goodbye to him, wondering what to make of the encounter. Nothing to do about it right now, Hilda decided. They needed to figure out what they were going to do with this warehouse.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen: Celebrity Pokemon

The strange girl, who introduced herself as Anna, had arrived at Warehouse 26 the next morning before Hilda and her friends. She had set up her photography studio on the top level, setting up a miltitude of different backgrounds for shots. Paint cans and canvases could also be seen up there. Anna seemed determined to work on this photography business.

Hilda, Cheren and Bianca...not so much. Cheren had found a meadow backdrop last night that they could use for a performance, but that was the most that they had prepared. They still weren't sure what to do for it, but they spent most of the previous night trying to come up with ideas.

"What if it was a play?" Hilda suggested.

"Do you plan on writing one?" Cheren asked. "It takes weeks to write and revise a play- no, longer than that. We can't waste time on that when we have to catch Pokemon for the Gym."

"We wouldn't have to write it. We could perform something already in public domain. Just head down to the library and find some copies, and we sell tickets so people can see us perform. It's been done before."

Cheren shrugged. "Maybe. But what would we do, in that case? We don't have the money to buy costumes or props."

Bianca raised her hand. "Let's just scrap the play thing entirely!" she decided. "How about we perform an interpretive dance?"

Anna scoffed from where she perched. "That's the lowest form of art! You can't just do that!" she argued.

Bianca frowned at her. "I saw someone doing that next to a statue on the way here. His hat was filled to the brim with cash, so I don't see how we could do any less."

Hilda scratched behind her ear. "That guy's moves flowed well, and the sense of purpose was easily seen, even if we can't know exactly what it is," she explained. "I don't think we can just simply… 'do it', like you think we can."

"Well how about this?"

Bianca stepped up in front of the backdrop. She started skipping around and flailing her arms about, trying to form some kind of imagery. It brought laughter to the people and Pokemon in the warehouse. Even stoic Mienfoo couldn't help but giggle at it.

"What is that?" Anna asked.

"I'm thinking that it's called 'Peril at Narene City'," Bianca explained.

"More like 'Beached Magikarp'," Cheren chuckled.

Bianca stopped flailing around. "What are you thinking of, then?" she sighed.

Cheren fixed his glasses. "Maybe something simple," he began. "You've seen the performances of the Pokemon Musical on TV, right? We could do something similar, just set our Pokemon in front of this backdrop and have them perform some kind of dance. Nothing too grand or anything like that."

"Then who'd go see it?"

Cheren and Bianca erupted into an argument, trying to determine whose idea was better. Hilda stomped her foot on the ground twice, the sound echoing throughout the mostly empty warehouse. Everyone turned their attention to her.

"This is getting us nowhere," she argued. "We need a plan, one that is creative and concrente."

Anna walked down to the bottom floor. "I've got an idea," she insisted. "Your pikachu. She's basically a celebrity, you know. I'm sure people would pay a lot of money to see her. Maybe you could set up a photo booth where people could take pictures of her."

Oh, that really was a good idea. And it wasn't exactly like Hilda could keep Pikachu out of the public eye forever, especially when Pikachu wanted to stay out with the rest of her team. But she couldn't just use her like a simple tool. Especially for something as reminiscent as whatever Team Plasma did with her.

"Is that okay, Pikachu?" Hilda asked. "I'm not going with it unless you're okay to do so."

Pikachu ran in front of the backdrop, flicking her tail. She looked at them with steely-eyed determination.

"Is that an okay?" Bianca wondered.

"It looks like it," Anna insisted. "Now let's work on making some signs to this warehouse."

* * *

They set up a sign pointing toward Warehouse 26, calling attention to the presence of Pikachu. Hilda set Pikachu on a stool in front of their backdrop, telling her not to move too much. By midday, a man and his daughter walked into the room, curiosity on their faces.

"That _is_ a pikachu," the man gasped.

"Daddy! Daddy! It's a pikachu!" the daughter gasped. "Can we take a picture, please?"

The man directed his attention to Cheren, who leaned against the doorway. "Could we take a picture?" he asked.

"Do you have twenty dollars?" Cheren repeated.

"I have twenty dollars."

Cheren waved his hand to Pikachu. "Go right on ahead, then."

The man walked up to Pikachu, snapping a few pictures on his camera.

"Don't get too close to her, if you don't mind," Hilda told them. "She's a bit wary around strangers."

"Don't worry," the man promised her. "I have what I need. Thank you."

The man took his daughter by the hand, passing Cheren twenty dollars before leaving.

The day passed along, with each patron coming in roughly the same manner. They saw Pikachu, they took a picture, and they paid and left. It seemed very business-like, though nothing could disguise their excitement. Of course, Hilda noted that they seemed less formal when paying performers on the streets. Maybe because the circumstances were different than usual.

Then a familiar person came in, wearing an astonished look on his face. He tipped his hat up, brushing green hair out of his eyes before coming in closer.

"So you do indeed have the pikachu," N gasped. "I don't normally follow rumors closely. I was glad to do so this time, however."

Hilda rubbed an elbow as he stepped closer to Pikachu. An emolga hopped off his shoulder, fluttering close to the stool. Pikachu flicked her ears at N, seeming to recognize him from somewhere, and happily barked a greeting to the emolga.

"Didn't you have a purrloin before?" Cheren scoffed.

"I trade them out occasionally so they can travel with me," N explained. "I have so many Pokemon friends, and I can't quite manage them so easily."

"In your PC Storage System?" Hilda asked.

"I don't believe in the Storage System. It's too harmful on the Pokemon. No, I keep them in the garden where I live, so they can run around freely."

"That must take a lot of trips."

N knelt down before Pikachu. "Hey there, how are you?" he asked her. "Is this Trainer treating you well?"

There was a strange back and forth for a moment. Pikachu chipped out sounds, and N replied with bouts of "I see, I see". Trainers were known to speak to their Pokemon- Hilda knew that she and her friends did so- but N replied to Pikachu as if he understood exactly what she was saying.

He stood up after a moment, patting her on the head. His eyes were forlorn, his frow contorted in thought.

"She trusts you, though I don't get it," N replied. "Not from her background. I just...she seems happy enough, at least."

"Are you going to take a picture or not?" Cheren spat, arms crossed.

N pulled a camera out of his bag. "Do you mind if Emogla gets in the shot?" he asked. "I think it would be nice for the both of them?"

Emolga had squeezed onto the stool next to Pikachu, and the two Pokemon nuzzled each other.

"I don't see why not," Hilda decided. "Go ahead."

N fiddled with the camera for a moment, apparently unsure of how it worked. He snapped three pictures of them together, smiling at the success. "Perfect!" he cheered. "We best be getting on our way now."

He scooped Emogla into his hand, setting her on his shoulder. He made his way out the door before Cheren grabbed him by the arm.

"Sixty dollars," Cheren huffed. "Twenty for each picture."

Hilda frowned at him. "You didn't say that for any of the other patrons," she argued. "It's twenty."

Cheren rolled his eyes. "Fine. Twenty."

N pulled out twenty dollars and handed it to Cheren. "Goodbye Hilda. And don't abuse your Pokemon's trust," he concluded. "It's a sad moment when that happens."

With that, N and Emolga left, off to other parts of Nacrene City. Pikachu waved at them, frowning somberly.

Hilda crossed her arms, glaring at Cheren. "What was that for?" she spat.

Cheren stood up. "He's a weirdo! We shouldn't be talking with him at all!" he argued. "The way he addresses Pokemon as if they can talk is really strange and creepy! And who calls themselves by a letter, anyway?! A stinking letter!"

"That's no excuse to treat someone poorly! You need to keep your composure better!"

Cheren sighed. "Maybe. It still doesn't change the fact that that N guy is weird."

Hilda shook her head, and went off to adjust the backdrop.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen: A Different Kind of Battle

Hilda woke up in the middle of the night, having become aware of an uncomfortable feeling in her bladder. She had consumed many cans of soda during dinner, a mistake she now regretted. Slipping out of the pile her Pokemon had put her under, Hilda got up and walked around their hotel room. It shouldn't have been too hard to get to the bathroom, and indeed it wasn't- however, she was unnerved by an obstacle in her path.

It was Mienfoo, standing in between the kitchen and the bathroom. Her arms were crossed, and she scanned her surroundings warily. This spot seemed to be her favorite spot in recent nights. Mienfoo wouldn't go into her Poke Ball, and she wouldn't be bothered to sleep near Bianca. She even held her paws up in a battle stance in order to ward people off. It reminded Hilda a lot of how Pikachu acted.

"Hey Mienfoo, could I get by you for a second?" Hilda whispered. "I need the bathroom."

Mienfoo glared at her, suspicion filling the air. She then stepped to the side, allowing Hilda to enter the bathroom. Hilda nodded at her, and stepped inside.

After concluding her business, Hilda made a move to open the door so she could get back out. She was immediately threatened by a paw that flew straight for her hand. Mienfoo peeked through the crack in the opening, glaring.

"It's just me," Hilda insisted. "Let me out."

Mienfoo opened the door for her, allowing her an opening. Hilda stepped out, retreating back to her bed. Lillipup had woken up, timidly looking for Hilda. He relaxed as soon as she made her way back to bed.

"I think I'm alright," Hilda told him. "I'm not sure about Mienfoo, though."

* * *

They had another mystery delivery to their hotel room the next morning. Bagels and oranges again, but this time there were cereal bars thrown in. Hilda still wanted to know the identity of their mysterious benefactor, but she wouldn't refuse a free meal.

"Ugh, more citrus items," Cheren sighed. "Hey Petilil, why don't you take these with you?"

He set the oranges on the ground, and a peckish Petilil rolled them over to where she had settled. Over the past few days, Petilil had proved to be a champion snacker, consuming anything that fell on the floor. Hilda had heard that plants create their own nutrients, and she had no explanation for Petilil's behavior.

"Hang on, let me take at least two," Bianca insisted, taking them off the floor.

Bianca brought two oranges over to Mienfoo, who hadn't left her spot. "Wil you eat oranges?" she asked the Pokemon. "They're nice and healthy. A bit tart, but still good."

Mienfoo puffed her cheeks out, refusing to respond.

"She's still not eating?" Hilda wondered.

Bianca shook her head. "It doesn't seem like it."

"She will eat," Cheren insisted. "I woke up to a crashing sound one night, and it turned out to be Mienfoo stealing leftovers from the fridge."

"So she won't accept food from strangers," Hilda noted.

"If Mienfoo has any problems, it's her exhaustion. You two notice how sleepy she seems, right?"

Indeed she appeared that way. Mienfoo dipped her head a couple times, along with her droopy eyes. Fighting-type Pokemon could be stubborn and adamant, but even they had their limits.

"It must be hard on Pokemon that are traded," Bianca sighed. "To come from a Trainer you deeply cared for, handed to another Trainer you don't know. Does she feel betrayed? Oh, now I feel sad for her and Patrat. I wonder how he's doing."

Hilda tied the laces on her boots, nudging away Petilil as she tried to chew on the aglets. "I think we all need a break from working," she decided. "Our Pokemon have been busy training, we've been busy preparing for the Gym and trying to earn money. We have enough now that we don't need to worry, and we've built up our stock of medicines to last us a while. Let's take a real walk around Nacrene City, and view some of the statues. I want to take a better look at the big one at the center of town."

Cheren nodded in agreement. "Fresh air ought to do us good, especially when we're not working so much."

"Hear that, Mienfoo?" Bianca cheered. "We're going to take a walk around the city."

Mienfoo perked up, and she left her spot on the wall.

* * *

They walked along the busy streets, pointing out each of the unique statues along the way. Because there weren't too many people about, they kept their Pokemon out of their Poke Balls so they could easily enjoy the walk. Pikachu perched on Hilda's shoulder as she carried Oshawott in her arms, and Petilil rode on Lillipup once again. Purrloin flanked Lilly and took the lead, and Snivy took the role of lookout on Cheren's shoulder. Mienfoo walked several paces away from Bianca, staring at her with suspicion in her eyes. Munna floated near her, trying her best to be friendly, but she stayed as far away as possible.

"That big statue at the center," Hilda pointed out. "The one with the two dragons on it. That's the one I wanted to see."

They stood at the base of the statue, observing its shape. Two dragon-type Pokemon seemed locked in battle, mouths agape as they roared. Their tails were big and wide, a type of energy emanating from them. On the pedestal, a plaque depicted the name of the work- "Near Death of Unity."

"Who do you think won that battle?" Bianca wondered.

"Neither of them," Cheren explained. "And any conflict like that would result in backlash for those uninvolved in the conflict. Only compromise can win the day, or so I'm told."

Could these two Pokemon learn to compromise? Hilda hoped so- compromise was what Unova was built upon.

They continued walking, pausing as they saw some Trainers at work. These Trainers looked like martial arts masters, cooperating with throhs and sawks while working out. Trainers and Pokemon moved in sync, complimenting each other nicely.

"They seem to bond that way," Cheren noted. "I'm aware of how Pokemon like to fight, but I've never seen anything quite like this."

Bianca fiddled with her Pokedex, her lips pursed in thought. "I can't find anything in here on that," she sighed. "But...it does seem like a good idea to train with Mienfoo that way."

She turned to Mienfoo. "How about it? Want to practice fighting?"

Mienfoo gave a quick, excited nod, and set herself in a battle pose. Bianca stood back, reading it for a moment before realizing what she wanted. Of course, Hilda knew immediately what that pose meant.

"You want to fight...against me," Bianca muttered. "Alright. Tepig, come here."

Tepig ran to Bianca's side, prepared to fight. Mienfoo shook her head, keeping her pose.

"Ohh...you want to fight against _me,_ " Bianca stammered. She clenched her fists, taking in a breath of air to calm her nerves. "Tepig, back off, okay?"

She handed her bag to Hilda. Hilda took it from her, hands trembling in fear. "No Bianca, you can't do this," she argued.

"If this is what will help Mienfoo like me, then I'll accept it," Bianca insisted.

Cheren turned his head away. "I can't watch," he sighed timidly.

Bianca struck her own battle pose, fists in the air. "Alright, bring it on!" she cheered.

Mienfoo ran straight for her, hitting her in the gut. She knocked Bianca back, sending her onto her rump. Bianca let out a silent moan, staggering back up. She ran for Mienfoo, a fist extended out. Mienfoo picked her up, flipping her onto her back. Bianca's beret flew off her head, landing a few feet away from her. Bianca let out a yelp of pain, picking herself up again.

"You're two feet tall! That's really impressive!" Bianca grimaced.

"Bianca, knock it off!" Hilda shouted.

Bianca collected herself, getting back into position. "I'm not done yet," she argued.

She kicked her leg out, hoping to hit Mienfoo. The Pokemon promptly dodged this attack, instead swiping at her other leg in order to knock her down. Bianca fell flat on her stomach, staggering up to try again.

"You don't have to do this!" Hilda insisted.

"Yes I do!" Bianca argued. "I want Miefoo to feel cared for! I want her wishes to feel validated!"

Mienfoo's eyes widened in surprise. She relaxed her stance, staring at Bianca in confusion.

Bianca patted down her white skirt, which was now slightly dirty. "That's right, Mienfoo. You're a part of my team now. I want you to feel wanted here. I know it's hard to be away from your old Trainer. I know I can't replace him, and I don't want to. I'd like to be your friend, and however we do that is perfectly okay with me."

Mienfoo's eyes watered, and she began whimpering. Bianca gave her a hug, and she willingly hugged back. "It's okay," she promised her. "You're going to be okay."

Hilda noticed Pikachu flick her ears in curiosity, a sympathetic look on her face. She scratched her on the head, looking on at the two of them.

* * *

They returned to their hotel room around lunchtime, thoroughly satisfied by their walk through the city. Bianca decided to take a shower upon returning home, and Hilda agreed to take her clothes down to the laundry room while she was in there. Oshawott rode on her back, and Lillipup and Petilil followed along in the same manner they had on their walk. They scooted past Cheren as he watched the television from his bed, surrounded by his Pokemon. Bianca's Pokemon watched the television from her bed, viewing it curiously. Mienfoo had dozed off upon returning to their room, and Pikachu had cuddled up near her. It was very odd behavior from the electric-type Pokemon.

"Hey Pikachu, are you coming with us?" Hilda asked.

Pikachu shook her head, settling back down.

Hilda recalled the sad look in Pikachu's eyes after Bianca's fight with Mienfoo. Perhaps she didn't want her feeling lonely. But it was nice to see Pikachu making an effort to get closer to her friends' Pokemon. Hilda said her goodbyes and left the room.

She wandered down the hallway, making her way to the elevator. Hilda prepared to push a button, but a bark from Lillipup turned her head down to the hallway. A familiar balding man stomped toward every door, knocking on it furiously. Hilda panicked, stuffing Bianca's clothes into her bag. She set Oshawott on the ground and took her vest off, tucking those over the clothes. Hilda gathered her bag, slamming on the button to Floor 2 and begging it to move faster. The man ran toward the elevator, holding the doors open and stepping inside.

"I'm guessing you and Cheren are staying here," Bianca's father huffed. "Which room?"

Hilda picked up Oshawott, clutching him a bit too tightly. "And from you're tone, I'm guessing you're looking for Bianca," she muttered.

"She's rather stubborn, if you can believe it. She didn't even wait for me to discuss it with her mother. And what the heck do you have with you!?"

"Um, this is Oshawott. He's my Partner Pokemon."

"What are those other two?"

"Lillipup and Petilil."

Bianca's father observed them closely, warily pressing himself against the wall as the elevator moved. "What Pokemon did Bianca choose?"

"Uh...Tepig, I believe."

Bianca's father grabbed his hair in fear and disbelief. "Tepig!? Tepig, Tepig Tepig!?" he stammered. "Does she even know what she's getting into with Tepig!?"

He pulled out a Poketch, flipping through the pictures. He showed one to Hilda, depicting a tall boar-like Pokemon with fiery swirls on its body. The Pokemon nearly dwarfed its Trainer in size.

"Whoa! That's cool!" Hilda gasped.

"It is not cool! An emboar is way too dangerous for her!" Bianca's father argued. "She's too timid to deal with its temper! Suppose it burns her alive while she's sleeping!?"

Oshawott pressed his head against Hilda's chin, trying to calm her down. "I mean...maybe she'll become strong enough to handle it," she insisted. "This journey could be the best thing for her."

"This journey's going to eat her alive! And if an emboar is bad enough for her, imagine what would happen if she were to try and battle a darmanitan!"

"Darmanitan?"

Bianca's father shook his head. "Never mind," he sighed.

The elevator stopped, and the doors opened onto Floor 2. Bianca's father continued, "If she wanted to have a Pokemon, I could've paid a Hoenn Breeder to give us a swablu. Yeah, a nice, small, non-threatening swablu. I know they'd readily bond."

"That would be kind of expensive, don't you think?" Hilda asked.

"Anything to keep her from hurting herself."

Hilda rubbed the back of her neck. "On...on the Trainer Feature show...I saw her fighting against Striaton's Gym Leaders," she fibbed. "She used a munna. She was really good."

"Good, you say?" he muttered. "Hmm."

Hilda stepped out of the elevator with her Pokemon. Bianca's father pressed a button inside, closing the doors. The light above flashed the down arrow. Hilda sighed, setting Oshawott onto her back. It was one of the weirder encounters she'd had with the man.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen: A Great Transformation

After settling their financial issues, the three now had to focus on training their Pokemon for the Gym. They still needed a good strategy for beating Lenora's watchog, and so far, only Bianca had a fighting-type Pokemon. Hilda knew that she had to find one. Her chances of winning were slim without one, if the watchog was as strong as they had been hearing.

Hilda left on her own to the grasses near the warehouses one day, Petilil leading her party as Oshawott sat on her back. Petilil hadn't fought any Pokemon yet, and she definitely needed the experience. Lillipup and Pikachu were hidden away in their Poke Balls. Lillipup would be outmatched against fighting-types, and Pikachu would attract too much attention. Journalists from the Trainer Spotlight shows had decided to poke their noses around today, and Hilda didn't feel like getting too much attention.

As luck would have it, one such journalist did indeed cross her path. She walked around the corner of a warehouse to a patch of tall grass, and a journalist ran right up to her side. He was a bald man, seemingly in the business for a long time. His blue suit was covered in grass stains, marking his duty of tracking wild Pokemon to discover what abilities they had. He wore a great big smile, pleased to have found her.

"Ah, so you must be the famous Hilda," the man gasped. "This is my lucky day! We've all been so eager to meet you!"

"I can imagine," Hilda muttered.

"Where's your pikachu? I'm sure she'd enjoy the spotlight we'll give you two."

"She's...not here at the moment. I'm trying to focus on training my petilil right now, not to mention catching some Pokemon."

"Yes yes, a Trainer busy at work. You don't mind if I follow you for a bit, to see you in action with Petilil, do you?"

Hilda shrugged. "I guess not. Alright, Petilil, let's remember to keep our heads."

Petilil chirped in understanding, bounding just a few feet ahead of her. Hilda walked on into the grass, the journalist following just behind her. They stood idly by for a few minutes, waiting for Pokemon to come after them. The man pulled his camera out in anticipation, eagerly filming them.

"So anyway, where did your pikachu come from?" the man asked. "I hear they have some pretty mean pikachus in Kanto. Or maybe she's a sweet Hoenn kind."

"Right now, we're thinking that she's from Sinnoh," Hilda explained. "I'm going to have Lenora look at her to be certain, though."

"You mean you're not certain?"

Oshawott barked at him, narrowing his eyes. He didn't seem to like the man's questioning. Frankly, Hilda found herself disliking it, too.

"It's a long story," she sighed.

The leaves ahead of them rustled, and Petilil prepared herself for an encounter. A timburr ran up to them, its gray fur twisted with pinkish veins. It swirled its large stick around, snarling at the plant Pokemon.

"Alright Petilil, use Sleep Powder on it!" Hilda shouted.

Petilil spouted pollen from her leaves, shooting it at the timburr. The timburr dodged this attack, retaliating with a Low Kick that knocked her to the ground. Petilil got up, frowning in indignation. She had cuts all over her body, even after just that one hit. No wonder Cheren had a hard time catching a fighting-type Pokemon.

"Leech Life!" Hilda shouted.

A green aura surrounded Petilil, and round green lights went after the timburr. The timburr failed to dodge this attach, and the lights grasped onto him. They returned to Petilil, rejuvenating her. The timburr was now worse for wear.

"Sleep Powder!" Hilda commanded.

Petilil shot the pollen out again, this time making her mark. The timburr's eyes shut tightly, the pollen doing its trick. Hilda threw a Poke Ball at it, and a white light collected it inside. The Poke Ball shook for a moment, but suddenly it broke open. There stood the timburr, still asleep, and still not caught.

"But Cheren said it would work," Hilda gasped in disbelief. She shook it off, and commanded, "Petilil, use Grass Knot!"

Petilil summoned two giant leaves, each one rapidly spinning with each other. They hit the timburr straight on, knocking it to the ground. It didn't get up again, only breathing slowly. She'd knocked it out. But with only one other move!?

"Wow! A critical hit! She must really want to impress you!" the man applauded her.

Petilil ran over to Hilda, gnawing on her shoelace. Hilda sighed, giving her an orange slice. "At least we got some practice in," she decided. "I guess we should go back to the old way of catching Pokemon though, huh?"

The man raised an eyebrow. "Old way?"

"I usually ask Pokemon to come along with me. I did for Petilil, and I did for Pikachu. Well, at least I think I did for Pikachu."

"What do you mean?"

Before Hilda could elaborate further, another rustle in the grass directed their attention. This time a larger Pokemon came forward to meet them. A four legged Pokemon with white fur, a single horn on the side of its head. It stared at Hilda with red eyes, silently reading her. It was as if it wanted to communicate with her.

The man stepped forward, pulling out a Poke Ball of his own. "We need to be careful," he warned her. "I've read about this one- this one's a dangerous one!"

Hilda pulled out her Pokedex. It read the strange Pokemon as an absol, a Pokemon known to detect disasters. Nothing about this Pokemon seemed particularly dangerous. Its eyes were soft and knowing, and it wasn't poised to attack them. Odd, though- Hilda had no doubt that this Pokemon was a wild one, but wild Pokemon were always ready to attack unless informed otherwise.

"This Pokemon is a native to Hoenn. It brings trouble no matter where it goes," the man spat.

"Not to Unova, either?" Hilda wondered. "Wait a minute...Oshawott, you take the lead."

Oshawott nodded, sliding down and stepping in front of Petilil. Hilda picked up Petilil, watching as the absol craned its head where its horn was. It ran past Hilda and the man, leaping onto the roof of a warehouse as another figure came running in. It was the Plasma man with the tattered cloak, this time assisted by a sandile. The sandile seemed fidgety, constantly twitching its black eyes about. No doubt that this one was close to evolving like the other guy's patrat was.

"You," the cloaked man spat, narrowing his eyes at Hilda. "I knew you were a troublesome Trainer the moment I laid eyes on you. So what did you do with the pikachu I was trying to find? How have you abused her?"

Hilda clenched her fists. "And what about you?" she argued. "Did you pick her up from Sinnoh? What did you do with her family? Where are they?"

"I wouldn't know, but I know that they're not hurt or anything. And they'll stay that way as long as you hand back the pikachu."

"And what are you doing with this absol? More pictures for your vile propaganda?"

The man crossed his arms. "You obviously don't know the first thing about propaganda. No one would sympathize with a cursed Pokemon like that. But it does have its uses in battle, and I was- no, I am- supposed to catch it, so stand aside!"

The man adjusted his camera, stepping back. "Oh, a good chance for dramatic shots," he mused.

Hilda stood her ground. "Oshawott, Water Gun!" she shouted.

"Crunch him!" the cloaked man commanded.

The sandile got the first move in, biting hard on Oshawott's tail. Oshawott retaliated with a heavy shot of water, landing a direct hit. The sandile slid back several feet, barely stabilizing itself by digging into the ground.

"Razor Shell!" Hilda commanded.

"Rock Throw!" the cloaked man ordered.

Oshawott threw his scalchop at the sandile, landing a heavy blow on it. The sandile kicked up a rock from the ground, throwing it at Hilda's Pokemon. Oshawott narrowly dodged this move, and the sandile seemed worse for wear.

"You're pretty tough," the cloaked man scoffed. "But you're not beating me."

He pulled a Super Potion out of his pocket, spraying it on the sandile. The sandile's energy returned, and it was back into fighting condition. It wasn't a very inspiring move for Hilda, and she found herself a bit worried. But Oshawott was a stronger Pokemon now. The two of them were different from the last time they met this man. They wouldn't let him get the best of them.

"Razor Shell!" Hilda shouted.

"Rock Throw!" the cloaked man ordered.

The sandile went first, lobbing another rock at Oshawott. This time the rock landed its mark, knocking him off balance just a bit. Oshawott managed not to fall down, righting himself back up before attacking again. He threw his scalchop once more, landing a mean hit on the sandile. It looked stronger than last time, Hilda had to admit. And she also noticed a steely determination in Oshawott's eyes, marking his eagerness to win.

"Yeah Oshawott, we can do this," Hilda agreed. "Use Water Pulse!"

"Rock Smash!" the cloaked man ordered.

Oshawott went first, shooting a strong stream of water from his mouth. It landed directly on the sandile, knocking it back once more. The sandile staggered to its feet, and the cloaked man searched his pockets for another Potion. The sandile rushed forward, kicking up rocks and throwing them at Oshawott. He staggered back, though quickly picked himself up in excitement.

"Use Water Pulse again!" Hilda gasped.

"Rock Throw!" the cloaked man ordered.

The sandile threw another rock at Oshawott. Oshawott leapt out of the way, shooting another stream of water out. It landed directly on the sandile, knocking it out in one fell swoop. The cloaked man took the sandile back into its Poke Ball, grumbling in indignation.

"Oshawott, you did it!" Hilda cheered.

Oshawott turned back to her, smiling.

"I've still got two more Pokemon with me!" the cloaked man argued, shifting through his pockets. "I will have that absol!"

Hilda crossed her arms, smirking. "Bring it on! We can take them!" she insisted.

She pulled a Potion out of her bag, spraying it on Oshawott and healing him. The cloaked man released another Pokemon. This one was a blitzle, a black-and-white equine Pokemon with an electrified horn. Hilda bit her lip in fear, and Petilil chirped and pounded on her arms, begging to be let down.

"Alright Petilil, you can take over this time," Hilda decided.

"No way! It has to be with your oshawott!" the cloaked man argued.

The man shook his head in disbelief. "No kind Trainer would force their Pokemon into a battle they'd struggle with!" he insisted. "Anything other than that is abuse! Your team's rhetoric is the ethical treatment of Pokemon- do you even hear yourself right now?!"

"My goal is to punish abusive Trainers above all else!" the cloaked man argued. "Let them suffer for how they treat their Pokemon!"

Of course he'd want to hurt Trainers for using Pokemon. She remembered the look in his eyes from their first day out. He wanted to upset her by taking Oshawott away. Hilda ignored his wishes. She took Oshawott back and sent Petilil into the fray.

"Sleep Powder!" Hilda commanded.

"Thunder Wave!" the man ordered.

The blitzle released a weak wave of electricity from its horn, which hit Petilil straight on. It paralyzed her, restricting her movements. Despite this, she still managed to get her pollen out, putting the blitzle to sleep.

"Rotten move," the cloaked man spat.

Hilda pulled out a Paralyze Heal, spraying it on Petilil. "I should say the same," she noted. "Petilil, use Grass Knot!"

The cloaked man didn't say anything, for no command could pull a Pokemon out of sleep. Petilil summoned two giant leaves, spinning them together and hitting the blitzle. The blitzle was knocked back, still asleep. Though it looked a little worse for wear from the damage it took.

"Leech Life!" Hilda shouted.

Petilil produced the green lights once more, sucking energy from the blitzle. The blitzle woke up at this point, fiercely enraged.

"Thunder Shock!" the cloaked man yelled.

"Grass Knot!" Hilda shouted.

The blitzle hit Petilil with electrical energy, this time stronger than a wave. She slid back a bit, quickly righting herself back up. She retaliated with another grass move, delivering a big hit to her opponent.

"Use Thundershock again!" the cloaked man shouted.

"Leech Life!" Hilda commanded.

The blitzle used the same kind of electrical energy, just narrowly missing Petilil as she slid out of the way. She summoned the green lights again, sapping more of the blitzle's strength.

"Volt Switch!" the cloaked man smirked.

"Sleep Powder!" Hilda shouted.

The blitzle charged quickly at Petilil, knocking her back with a flurry of sparks. It suddenly retreated into its Poke Ball, even though the man didn't touch it. He sent out his third Pokemon, which was a meek little pansear. Hilda didn't like the look in his eyes. It was the look of fear, and by how much he looked at the cloaked man, that fear stemmed from him.

"This is until I heal my Pokemon back up, though I'm sure this one can take out your petilil in a pinch," the cloaked man argued. "You'll have no choice but to send your oshawott back in. Unless, of course, you were to prove that you had the pikachu."

"I have a lillipup with me, and I can take him in if I need to," Hilda argued. "And I'd never let you hurt Petilil like that, or Pansear."

The cloaked man took his blitzle aside, spraying a Potion on it. "Use Flamethrower or whatever," he muttered.

Pansear nodded. He shot a weak little flame from his mouth, aiming just before Petilil. He missed by several feet, which appeared to be an intentional move on his part. The cloaked man looked back at Pansear, frowning in indignation. His gaze suddenly lifted to the warehouses, and he became even more furious.

"The absol's gone! Where'd it go!?" he yelled.

The man pointed his camera to the warehouse where the absol had been. "It seems it left while you two were battling," he mused. "Better for us, I'd say."

The cloaked man clenched his fists together. "And you, stupid Pokemon!" he yelled at Pansear. "You couldn't even land a hit that close to you!? You really are useless!"

Hilda watched the cloaked man lift his leg up. Without even thinking, she ran up to Pansear and wrapped him in her arms. She felt the cloaked man kick her hard in the back, sending fiery needles from the impact that quickly faded. Her heart thudded in her chest, and she glared at her opponent with harsh eyes.

"Stubborn little girl, always getting in the way," he spat. "You ruin everything."

"What makes you so special in Team Plasma?" Hilda growled. "You treat your Pokemon in the same awful manner as the rest of those guys do."

"An abusive Trainer like you is one to talk!"

The cloaked man raised a fist at her. A sudden blast of water shot at him, and Oshawott stepped forward. He placed himself in front of Hilda, ensuring that no one hurt her. Petilil followed close behind, chirping and cheering in encouragement. Oh, Oshawott was being so brave.

"That's enough, now," Hilda insisted. "I'm fine. I think he gets the message."

Oshawott ceased his attack. The cloaked man wrung out the bottom of his cloak, sighing. He tossed a Poke Ball at Oshawott's feet, one that seemed empty upon inspection. It was Pansear's Poke Ball.

"I need to treat my other Pokemon," he huffed. "Do what you will with that stupid thing. I am going to catch that absol soon."

The man scoffed. "Good luck trying to find it," he insisted. "They know how to hide."

The cloaked man walked away, leaving Pansear behind. Hilda sat up, releasing Pansear from her grasp. She felt uneasy about the things that had happened. Another Pokemon had escaped Team Plasma's grasp, on the run somewhere in Unova, maybe Pinwheel Forest at best. She'd seen first hand how a Trainer would hurt their Pokemon, how unwilling they would be to compromise in battle. It was a view that Hilda didn't like, and she knew she wanted to be better than that.

But the events of the battle didn't end at Pansear's abandonment. Oshawott acted rather antsy, pacing about as if something was about to happen. It was as if an energy was building up inside of him, growing larger and larger without end. Hilda pulled her Pokedex out in anticipation. Oshawott was evolving! And he was evolving right now!

A white light engulfed Oshawott, growing brighter and brighter until the area filled up with it. Hilda shielded her eyed for the most part, still wishing to view the change for herself. Eventually the light dissipated, and a different Pokemon stood before her. Her partner had light blue fur over most of his body, black paws on all of his limbs. Two large scalchops sat on each side of his dark blue hips, primed for battle. Though his long-whiskered face still held his eager personality, as shown when he gave her a big smile. According to the Pokedex, he was now a Pokemon known as Dewott.

"You're a dewott now," Hilda gasped. "Congratulations, buddy! You did great out there!"

Dewott cheered, running up to her side. Petilil ran up to him, patting him on his smaller tail. Even Pansear gave a clap for him, smiling almost as much as the others. It was at this that Dewott lost his smile. He picked up the stray Poke Ball, handing it to Hilda. Hilda took it from him, wondering what to do.

"Hey Pansear, I could tell you wanted to get away from him," she began. "You could've hit Petilil if you wanted to, but you wanted to get away from him even more. I understand if you want nothing to do with humans after all of this, and if that's what you want, I will give you that. If you want to stay, I would treat you with the same respect I give my Pokemon. What do you want now?"

Pansear climbed back into her lap, letting out a few happy squeaks. Hilda stood up, holding him in her arms. "I guess that means you're staying, huh?" she wondered. "We'll gladly have you, then."

She quickly pulled an orange slice out of her bag, handing it to Petilil for her to have. "Oh, and I can't forget about you," she insisted. "You did great today. You really held your own against that blitzle."

They turned to the news man, who had just stopped recording everything on his camera. He stared at it for a moment, a troubled look in his eyes. "So you usually befriend Pokemon before you capture them?" he realized.

"That's usually how it goes," Hilda shrugged. "They seem closer to me for it."

"So what happened with Pikachu? How did you catch her? What were they doing to her?"

"I...I don't know all the answers to that, yet. That guy was looking for her in the woods when he decided to antagonize us. We just found her before he did, and all the better for it."

"I see...say, would you mind saying that again, this time with Pikachu beside you? I didn't know what to think of Team Plasma before, but I thought that at least they have good intentions. I don't believe that anymore. I want to let people know that they're bad news, and it starts with the footage I got of your battle with that man."

Of course Hilda knew that she couldn't keep a low profile forever. Most everyone knew about Pikachu at this point, and they knew Hilda had her. Team Plasma definitely knew now, and getting stronger to combat them was the only thing for it. She didn't know if she was ready to dive this deep into media coverage. But with her partner Pokemon evolving, she felt a bit more confident about it.

"What's your name?" Hilda asked. "I realize I should've asked that before."

"It's Max," the man said. "You should find it in the XTransceiver list."

Hilda searched through it, finding his name with his face beside it. She added him to her contacts, replying, "Yeah, we can have that interview."

* * *

She returned to the hotel room around lunchtime, finding herself a bit too tired to go looking for fighting-type Pokemon. A lot had happened during that battle, maybe too much. Dewott and Petilil needed a break for sure, and Pansear needed to get acclimated to the rest of her party. There was work ahead before they did much else.

Hilda opened the hotel room door, discovering it to be empty of people and Pokemon. There was a note on the fridge in Bianca's handwriting- "Gone Training. Be Back Soon." Cheren's name was written on the bottom of it as well, in his own handwriting. Had the two of them gone off together, or alone like she had? In any case, they couldn't be gone for much longer. Hilda took her place on the bed, setting Pansear and Petilil down beside her. Dewott crawled up with them, finding that he could now get onto the bed by himself with his newfound height. Hilda cautiously put Pansear on the end of the bed before releasing Lillipup and Pikachu. Of course Lillipup bounded up to him right away- he was always friendly toward new Pokemon.

As expected, Pikachu gazed upon Pansear with hostility. She stood closer to Hilda, her ears flattened and sparks rising from her cheeks. It wasn't just that she was unfamiliar with Unova Pokemon, and with her friendliness toward Mienfoo, that was probably waning. Pansear had been owned by the last man that had harmed Pikachu, and she couldn't know how he had suffered along with her. All she knew was that this specific Pokemon had been with that monster.

"It's okay Pikachu. He's our new friend," Hilda explained. "His Trainer was a bully, so I took him in."

Pikachu took tentative steps toward Pansear, still tense around him. Pansear stood as stiff as possible, somehow sure that it wouldn't upset her. They produced chattering noises, as if it were a conversation. Pikachu raised her ears up, looking back at Hilda in confusion.

A sad idea came to Hilda's mind. She cared deeply for Pikachu, but she didn't know if she felt the same. Hilda didn't think that N could understand Pokemon that well, but she could only dream of listening to them speak. If she could hear Dewott say, "You're pretty cool, you know." If she could hear Petilil say, "I'm cute and hungry, so feed me." If she could hear Pikachu say, "Thanks for helping me." Gosh, if she could hear what Pikachu said, they'd know exactly where she was from and where to go next to help her.

She picked up Pikachu, setting her in her lap. "You're not just with me because I saved your life, right?" she asked.

Pikachu gave a small shake of her head.

"And not just for food, either, I hope."

Pikachu puffed her cheeks out in playful sternness.

"Listen, I promise we're going to find your family. We're going to find them, and we're going to stop whatever Team Plasma is up to. And whatever you want after that is fine by me."

Pikachu settled into her lap, smiling. Hilda patted her back, giving a smile of her own.

The door opened up, and Cheren excitedly ran into the room. He held a Poke Ball in his hand, and his other Pokemon trailed behind him. Hilda found a larger green Pokemon accompanying him. It was a larger version of Snivy, but with smaller limbs and a bigger leaf tail. Hilda sat up in astonishment. Cheren had evolved his Pokemon.

"Hilda, you'll never guess what happened!" Cheren cheered.

"You evolved your snivy!" Hilda gasped.

"Yup! And in the midst of catching a Pokemon, too. She's now a great strong servine! Growth is derived from strength, I tell you."

He glanced at the bed, gasping and becoming more excited. "You evolved your Pokemon too! That's Dewott!" he added. "Good job, Hilda!"

"I got into a bit of a scuffle with another Trainer," Hilda shrugged. "Dewott really pulled through for us. Oh, and you caught another Pokemon? Is it a fighting-type?"

Cheren nodded, pressing the button on the Poke Ball. Out came a timburr, one that looked eager to fight.

"He has great energy, I can tell," Cheren insisted. "Did you catch another one? I see another one on your bed."

"Yeah. This is Pansear."

Cheren shook his head, tsking. "Back to Pinwheel Forest again? Oh Hilda, you'll have a hard time in the Gym."

"I'll get back out there. I just need more time."

"At least you're getting stronger by evolving your Pokemon. I still need some time myself, in order to get Timburr ready for the Gym. You, however, need to get your head back in the game, okay?"

Hilda pursed her lips, frowning.

Bianca walked through the door next, trailed by her Pokemon. Munna floated overhead, and Lilly ran right in. Bianca held two Pokemon by the hands- Mienfoo on the right, and a new Pokemon on the left. This one was boar-like, similar to Tepig, but walked upright and was a bit stocky. On each side of his body, there were golden fire-like symbols, kind of like medals.

"Oh, did I catch the memo on accident?" Bianca chuckled, looking at Servine and Dewott. "This is Pignite. I was training him and Mienfoo together, and then he evolved."

Hilda jumped off the bed, high-fiving Bianca. "Great job! We're each one step closer to tackling the Gym!" she cheered.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen: Nacrene Gym Battle

They spent another day training their Pokemon for the Gym. Hilda went out in search of more fighting-types to try and catch, though to little success. Trying to welcome the Pokemon in was impossible, as each and every fighting-type she encountered was primed for battle. Pansear and Petilil did well to fight them, but they still struggled a bit, and only Dewott could help them escape to the Pokemon Center. Every Poke Ball that Hilda threw failed to catch them, and they always managed to slip past her. She started losing hope of ever catching one.

That night, they tuned in to a special Trainer Feature on TV, perched on their beds in anticipation. Most of their Pokemon settled in fine, but it was difficult to get their new additions to do so. Petilil was antsy, and always chewing on something inedible to alert them to this. Just getting Timburr onto the bed was a special struggle, as he was eager for any sort of action to occur. Mienfoo and Pikachu playfully chased each other throughout the hotel room, their bond growing just a bit stronger. However, Pansear seemed content to sit in Hilda's lap, despite his obvious excitement as well.

"Pikachu, come up here!" Hilda called. "The show's about to start!"

Pikachu paused in her tracks, jumping up onto the bed. She pushed Pansear out of the way, taking his place in Hilda's lap. Hilda grumbled at this behavior, but she knew it would be a bad idea to move Pansear back. Mienfoo gave a little sigh for the end of their fun, and took her place beside Bianca on her bed.

The Trainer Feature came on, and a female reporter in a pink suit and tight bun walked into the Gym area with the famed celebrity Pokemon known only as Watchy Watchog.

"I'm Marian May here on the sight of the Nacrene City Gym," the reporter began. "It has been weeks since anyone challenged Lenora and her watchog to a battle, and most Trainers have been scared away by the power of her newly-evolved Pokemon. However, we now have new blood to take on the Gym Leader. Isn't that right, Watchy."

Watchy let out a few chitters, frowning.

"Oh, you're an absolute card, Watchy. Anyway, we've got a real contender here. All the way from Opelucid City, it's the Dragon Tamer Iris here to shake things up. She wowed Opelucid with the raw power of Axew, and took on each of the Gym Leaders in Striaton with Deino. But can she gain the average Trainer a victory against Lenora's watchog? Let's find out!"

Hilda immediately sat up straighter. She'd heard of Iris before. No one seemed to know dragon Pokemon like Iris did. Hilda hadn't seen her in battle before, and she was unbelievably excited about watching her.

Iris took out a druddigon for the battle, his red-and-blue scales shining underneath the lights. Lenora's watchog stood on the other end of the field, red eyes glaring at his opponent. Druddigon stomped his feet, clearly agitated. Iris patted him on the side, and this seemed to calm him down a bit.

"Druddigon, quick attack!" Iris shouted.

"Confuse Ray!" Lenora commanded.

Watchog flicked his tail, creating a swirling ball of light. It touched Druddigon, putting him off balance. However, any pain he received wasn't obvious. Druddigon staggered back up, having difficulty focusing on his target. He scratching himself on the face, wincing.

"Whoa, whoa, what was that?" Hilda gasped.

"I've read about this move," Cheren explained. "It causes confusion in the target. The target can no longer focus and hurts themselves every time it makes a move."

Hilda grimaced. And they thought that Super Fang was going to be the more difficult move to counter. If they couldn't get the first move in, what hope did they have?

Bianca, however, remained optimistic. "You've got this, Druddigon! I believe in you!" she shouted.

The battle continued as Iris searched her bag for medicine. "Hang in there, I've got you," she said. "Try crunching on him."

"Use Super Fang!" Lenora shouted.

Watchog ran forward, digging his teeth into Druddigon's scales, penetrating deep down. Druddigon spun his head around, still disoriented, but he managed to bite Watchog back.

"Whoo-hoo!" Bianca cheered.

Iris finally grabbed out the medicine- a Full Restore, this time. She sprayed it on Druddigon, revitalizing him and clearing up his head. "Alright, we're good again," she smiled. "Now, Crush Claw!"

"Confuse Ray!"

Watchog sent out the orb of light once more, but Druddigon dodged this by a short hair. He swiped his claws at Watchog, digging in a mean gash.

"Dragon Breath!" Iris shouted.

"Quick Attack!" Lenora commanded.

Watchog moved first, hitting Druddigon with his claws. Druddigon let loose an impressive blue flame, encasing the opposing Pokemon in it. Watchog fell to the ground, and Lenora took him back into the Poke Ball.

It was at this moment that Marian May and the camera crew and Watchy erupted into cheers. Back in their hotel room, Hilda and her friends gave off their own celebratory cheers as well. No one had beaten Lenora yet! Iris was one impressive Trainer!

"I don't believe this! Iris is the first Trainer to beat Lenora's watchog in battle!" Marian May gasped. "Truly a momentous occasion! Let's go over to her right now!"

The reporter and the crew gathered around Iris as she treated Druddigon's injuries, patting him on the side to congratulate him. She was visibly shaking, excitement overwhelming her, while Druddigon seemed calm and content.

"How do you feel, Iris, after accomplishing such a feat?" Marian May asked.

Iris shrugged meekly. "I just paid attention to the opponent's moves and acted accordingly with Druddigon," she explained. "He carried the bulk of the battle, of course."

Lenora walked up to her, presenting her with a new Badge. "This is for your efforts. I commend you on your skills, as well as your bond with your Pokemon," she said. "You had a pretty good strategy, and there's nothing more I appreciate than that."

"And there you have it!" Marian May announced. "What a great fight from a great Trainer. We hope to see more of her as her journey continues. See you next time!"

The show faded out, replaced by a commercial for a department store.

Bianca leaned back on her bed, letting out a sigh. "Well, it makes me kind of relieved to see someone beat Lenora," she added. "It means I might have a chance."

"I don't think you have anything to worry about," Cheren insisted. "From what I've seen, Mienfoo's pretty strong. If she can get the first move in, the battle can be yours."

Hilda stared at the television, awed by the battle she had just witnessed. Iris and Druddigon had made a fantastic duo, and the strength and understanding they both had was incredible. Maybe type advantages weren't the determining factor in a battle. Maybe all that was needed was understanding between a Trainer and their Pokemon.

She felt something nibble on her finger, and looked down to find Petilil there. Hilda picked her up, studying the leaves on the top of her head. An idea came to her mind at that moment.

"Hey guys, what if I used Petilil in the Gym Battle?" Hilda asked.

Cheren and Bianca looked at her. Bianca gave a curt nod, wishing to hear the idea. Cheren chuckled, though he didn't mean it to be condescending.

"It's an idea, Hilda. I'm not sure how good it is, though," Cheren decided. "I mean, Petilil's so small. It's one thing to use her to try and catch Pokemon until she evolves, but to set her up against a watchog- especially Lenora's watchog- I can't say it would be smart."

"But she is tiny, so maybe Watchog would have a hard time hitting her," Bianca added. "And she's fast, so she can probably dodge his attacks. And the type differences probably won't matter much. Druddigon wasn't a fighting-type, but he did well against Watchog."

"But Druddigon still had a hard time. That much is clear, just,"- he pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing, before continuing- "Alright, so Petilil knows Sleep Powder. That's good, you guys could probably knock him out and turn the battle in your favor. But you still have Super Fang to contend with, which will treat her like a cabbage if it hits. And that's not to say anything about Confuse Ray. None of us can afford the Full Restores yet, and you don't exactly have the buffer to protect her while you're healing her. If you have battle items, use them. But you have to get that first move in, and it must be Sleep Powder."

Hilda looked at Petilil. "So what you're saying is that I might have a chance by going this route?" she asked.

"It's small, but it's something," Cheren replied.

"Then I'm going to take it."

Cheren shrugged in response. Of course there was nothing more to add on the matter.

* * *

The three of them left the hotel the next morning. Hilda and Bianca decided that they wanted to challenge the Gym that day, while Cheren insisted that Timburr needed to be a bit stronger before he did anything, though insisted that he would challenge Lenora later that afternoon. Hilda and Cheren prepared to take off with their Pokemon, with Dewott and Servine trying to assume their old traveling positions. It caused the two Trainers a good deal of pain, and they told the two of them that they had to sit on the ground.

"I never considered this at all," Hilda lamented. "I almost miss the way he was before he evolved."

"It means that they're getting stronger," Cheren noted. "But I feel the same way, too."

Bianca, on the other hand, walked merrily along, taking Mienfoo and Pignite by the hands. The three of them seemed pleased to be walking along like that. Hilda and Cheren watched them go, envious of them.

"How come it seems like Bianca has her life figured out?" Cheren asked.

"Especially since none of us do," Hilda added. "Alright Dewott, that's how we're going to travel."

She took Dewott by the hand, and the two of them walked along. Dewott let out a huff, disappointed by the change of plan. Hilda waved to Cheren and Servine, continuing on her way. She and Dewott caught up to Bianca and her Pokemon. They followed the road to the Gym, spotting the Poke Ball symbol on it. This building was actually the Museum, but the Gym was said to be inside.

"Alright, Pignite, time for you to get into your Poke Ball," Bianca said.

Pignite nodded, and he willingly went inside.

Hilda did the same with Dewott, and pulled out Petilil in his place.

"You know, I almost thought you'd be the one wanting to train more," Hilda told Bianca. "Are you feeling pretty confident?"

"I wouldn't say that," Bianca shrugged. "But Mienfoo's been working really hard, and I think she trusts me a lot now. She's also been really antsy to get to the Gym; whenever we talk about it, her eyes light up. She's ready for sure. Oh, but maybe you want to take a look at her moveset."

Bianca pulled her Poketch out, scanning Mienfoo with it. She gave Hilda a look. At this point, Mienfoo knew Bounce, Double Kick, Low Kick and Focus Blast.

"I've heard of Bounce, but I thought that was something only flying-types could learn," Hilda mused. "It's supposed to be powerful, too. Yet Mienfoo seems rather young to know it."

"Maybe she learned it from a Technical Machine," Bianca shrugged. "I don't know. Should be pretty useful, though."

"Could be from a Move Tutor," a new voice announced. "But yeah, it does sound handy."

They turned around, spotting a familiar purple-haired Trainer in light-colored clothes. It was Iris.

"Hey! We watched you on TV!" Bianca gasped. "You were incredible!"

Iris scratched the back of her neck, shrugging. A small dragon-like Pokemon popped its head out of its hiding spot in her hair.

"Here to explore the Museum this time?" Hilda asked. "Now that you're not distracted with battles?"

"I guess so," Iris replied. "I wanted to get a closer look at their dragon exhibit, but I knew I'd spend forever there and never get to the battle."

Bianca ran up to her, grabbing her by the hands. "You're just fantastic with dragon-types!" she exclaimed. "I've watched professionals on TV use dragon-types, and they always have difficulty getting them under control! The dragons just seem so temperamental! How do you do it? What advice can you give us on battling overall!?"

"I just do what everyone else does, and treat Pokemon like my friends," Iris explained. "Trainers likely get nervous because the dragons seem imposing, but they're really nothing to be afraid of."

"I get it. Wish us luck, okay?"

"Will do."

Hilda and Bianca walked into the Museum, their Pokemon accompanying them. The Museum was filled with grand artifacts. Curios and trinkets from an ancient time lined the walls. Ancient tablets sat in glass cases, eager spectators taking them in. Hilda and Bianca wandered around for a moment, viewing the artifacts.

"It must've taken a long time to gather all of these items," Bianca gasped. "I wonder how they do it."

"Work goes by easier when you have Pokemon," Hilda insisted. "Imagine a whole fleet of gurrdurrs and excadrills working alongside people to dig them up."

"I get it. Maybe they get them out with an earthquake move- no, no wait, that wouldn't be good."

Hilda chuckled at her statement.

Petilil chirped, running over to another display case. Hilda went and chased after her, stopping just before a strange artifact. It was a pitted black rock, rather unremarkable in appearance. It did have this glow about it, however, as if it held an ancient power. When Hilda brought her hand near it, the glow seemed to increase. This rock seemed unremarkable, but it was certainly a curious trinket.

"Oh Hilda, I know I can get kind of weird, but what are you staring at that rock for?" Bianca asked. "If you want to be mesmerized by something, I'd take my attention to that giant dragon skeleton."

Hilda looked up, noting the giant skeleton at the center of the Museum. It stood several feet above everyone's heads, nearly touching the ceiling. It seemed quite menacing, despite it being a bag of bones. Iris was certainly captivated by it, circling around it several times while her Pokemon perched on her head.

"Yeah, I'll give you that," Hilda decided. She turned her head back to the rock, though.

"Why are you still looking at that?" Bianca wondered.

"I can't be sure," Hilda replied. "It just seems...familiar. I don't exactly know."

A woman walked up to them, hands on her hips. She was an older woman, though her dark hair and skin were very pretty. She had a white shirt with light blue pants, and she wore an apron that made her look like a real archaeologist. She looked identical to the way Lenora looked on the television. This was her, wasn't it?

"I'm surprised that you're looking at that as well," she noted. "It could be a meteorite of sorts, but we don't know yet. Though now we know that it can glow."

"You're the Gym Leader, right?" Hilda asked. "This is a big collection you guys have here."

"I'm glad you like it. So are you challenging the Gym, or just sightseeing?"

"Both, I guess. We've been sizing you up all week. We might be a bit on edge."

"As long as you've prepared, you should be ready to face me. Although, while we're here, I should inform you of one tiny requirement of my Gym."

Bianca adjusted her green beret. "Requirement?" she asked.

"I value knowledge and cleverness above all else. Those things are what's necessary to be your best. In order to face me, you need to solve the questions hidden in the library. Get all four right, and you get the chance to challenge me and Watchog."

A quiz? Hilda grimaced at the thought.

With that, Lenora walked away, heading to the back of the Museum. That had to be where the library was.

"Ready?" Hilda asked.

"I guess so," Bianca replied.

The two of them linked arms, following the path Lenora had taken to the library.

* * *

As incredible as the collection on the floor was, the library was just as impressive. Every wall was lined up with books, every aisle had a bookshelf along it. Hilda and Bianca could hardly see an inch of the library that didn't have books in it.

That was, except for the back, where the battlefield was. Lenora sat there waiting, sitting at a table with her watchog. She skimmed through a book of ancient fossils, tapping her finger on the cover as the girls came up to her.

"Alright, what's your quiz about?" Hilda asked.

Lenora closed the book, turning to face them. "It's nothing too difficult, I believe. Of course, you may have to do a bit of searching to find the answers," she explained. "But it's all about Pokemon. You two should know a lot about them by now."

Hilda wasn't sure. She hadn't met all too many Pokemon. Of course, they still had to give it their best shot.

"Give it to us straight, Lenora! We'll do our best," Bianca insisted.

Lenora nodded, casting her gaze to the ground. "Question one: What Pokemon produces puffs of smoke from its snout in self defense?"

That description did seem familiar, though Hilda couldn't place it.

Bianca's eyes lit up in realization, though. She dug through her bag, pulling out her Pokedex. She looked through the entries on the list, gasping excitedly. "It's Tepig!" she cheered.

Lenora smirked. "That's right," she confirmed. "Now question two. Which Pokemon stores electricity in its cheeks-"

"Pikachu!" Hilda shouted.

Lenora looked up at her in curiosity. "...As it soars through the skies."

Hilda felt her face turn red. "Emolga."

"I'll give you that one."

Hilda crossed her arms in frustration. "I didn't think emolgas could store electricity like that, too," she insisted. "I mean, I knew that pikachus and their evolution lines could."

"Oh, several Pokemon store electricity in their cheeks, Hilda," Bianca explained. "There's plusle and minun, dedenne-"

"What the heck's a dedenne?"

"I don't know for certain, but I saw one on an international broadcast from Sinnoh, where a coordinator brought one all the way back there."

"Is it the same for altarias?"

"Altarias aren't even electric-types, silly."

"But they have those cheek things, too!"

Lenora coughed, bringing their attention back to her.

"Question three," Lenora continued. "Which Pokemon hide away when it's not raining?"

The girls stood for a moment, trying to think of the answer. Bianca went over to a bookshelf, finding one on weather effects. Petilil nibbled on Hilda's hair, causing her to pull her away. She looked at the tiny bulb Pokemon for a moment, thinking back to that rainy day when they first met.

"Is it petilil?" Hilda asked.

"It is," Lenora nodded. "Seems like you got your Pokemon to assist you."

Petilil chuckled with glee.

Bianca showed them a picture in the book depicting a crowd of petilils in the rain. "There's so many of them!" she gasped.

"Last question," Lenora announced. "Which Pokemon is associated with dreams and illusions?"

"Oh, I don't even need to look for that one," Bianca smiled. "It's musharna!"

Lenora stood up, smiling. "Indeed. You two are indeed clever enough to search for answers, and to find examples from your Pokemon," she told them. "But now I want to see how clever you are in battle."

A meek young museum worker in a nice suit walked into the library, making his way to the battlefield. He held a box in his arms, one meant for Trainers to put their Pokemon in.

"Hawes, good timing!" Lenora cheered. "We just finished up, and we're ready to battle."

The man, Hawes, brought the box over to Hilda and Bianca. They placed their Poke Balls inside, and he walked the box over to the table.

"I'll get the gate," Hawes added.

"Wait, gate?" Hilda asked.

"We need to protect the books in the library, you know."

He walked to a lever by the table, pulling it down. A gate lowered behind Hilda and Bianca, trapping them inside the battlefield. Mienfoo and Petilil ran over to the gate, pressing against it. Mienfoo huffed in indignation, while Petilil let out a concerned chirp.

"It's like we're in prison," Bianca muttered.

Watchog made his way over to the center of the battlefield, arms crossed sternly. He looked over at them, itching to battle.

"Well, I'm going first," Bianca decided. "Come on, Mienfoo."

"Young miss, why don't we sit at the table and watch them?" Hawes asked Hilda.

Hilda picked up Petilil, patting her on the head and making her way over to the table. Hawes gave a quick kiss to Lenora, smiling eagerly.

"Good luck, dear," he told her.

"We'll do our best, I assure you," Lenora replied.

Mienfoo and Watchog faced each other on the battlefield, sizing each other up. Watchog actually seemed taller than Mienfoo.

"Mienfoo, use Low Kick!" Bianca shouted.

"Watchog, Confuse Ray!" Lenora shouted.

Mienfoo moved first, swiping at Watchog with her legs. She knocked him to the ground, hopping out of the way as Watchog sent out the orb of light. His red eyes glared at his opponent, looking at her in contempt.

"Confuse Ray again!" Lenora commanded.

"Bounce up, Mienfoo!" Bianca commanded.

Watchog sent out his orb of light, this time hitting Mienfoo. As Bianca dug through her bag for a full restore, Mienfoo flopped onto the ground in her confusion.

"Super Fang!" Lenora shouted.

Bianca sprayed a Full Restore on Mienfoo. "Bounce up, hurry!" she shrieked.

Mienfoo launched into the air, shooting back down on top of Watchog. They both fell to the ground, with Watchog taking more damage. Watchog bit her on her tail, practically grinding into her. Mienfoo whimpered in pain, retaliating with a hard hit on his forehead.

"Wait, she didn't tell her to use that move," Hawes wondered.

Bianca shook her limbs out. "Mienfoo, use Force Palm again!" she commanded her.

"Watchog, use Confuse Ray!" Lenora commanded.

Watchog staggered up, summoning another orb of light. Mienfoo quickly dodged this, retaliating with another hit from her paw. Watchog fell down, his energy spent.

"Your Pokemon really trusts you. Good job," Lenora muttered.

Bianca jumped up excitedly, running over to Mienfoo. She picked her up and gave her a big hug. Mienfoo cheered, reciprocating Bianca's affection.

Hilda clapped and cheered for her friend, with Petilil doing the same.

Lenora brought out a few medicines, treating Watchog's wounds. "We'll need another minute before we can commence our battle with Petilil," she explained. "Shake out your nerves, alright?"

Hilda looked at Petilil, noting how she shook with nervousness. She patted her on the head, calming her down.

"We've trained for this," Hilda told her. "We have a strategy down. No matter what happens, we're going to do great. You're going to do great, okay?"

Petilil looked up at her, nodding.

"Let's do our best."

They looked over to Lenora, noting that Watchog was back in fighting condition. The Pokemon looked at Petilil, snickering at her. If Mienfoo seemed smaller than him, then Petilil was definitely smaller than him. It mattered very little to Hilda, though. Being smaller had to make Pokemon harder to hit, right?

Hilda got up, giving Bianca a high five and watching her walk over to the table with Mienfoo. Petilil ran out to the battlefield, standing in front of Watchog.

"Petilil, use Sleep Powder!" Hilda commanded.

"Watchog, use Confuse Ray!" Lenora commanded.

Petilil shot spores from her bulb, aiming for Watchog. The larger Pokemon jumped out of the way, sending out his orb of light. Hilda grimaced as it launched straight toward Petilil, hitting her on the head.

However, the light seemed to split apart on contact, completely dissipating. Petilil didn't seem confused in the slightest.

Hilda took her chance. "Use Sleep Powder again!" she gasped.

"Watchog, use Super Fang!" Lenora shouted.

Watchog raced forward, firmly biting Petilil's body. Petilil let out a yelp of pain, but she used her position to spray her spores on him. He promptly fell asleep, dropping her from his grasp.

"Use Leech Life!" Hilda commanded.

Petilil sent out green lights, using these to sap Watchog's energy and heal herself.

"Grass Knot!" Hilda commanded.

Petilil sent out two large leaves, spinning them in unison and hitting Watchog on the stomach.

Lenora sprayed an Awakening on him. "Bide your time!" she shouted.

"Petilil, use Sleep Powder again!" Hilda shouted.

Petilil shot out the spores again, only for Watchog to dodge them. He stood by, collecting energy. Lenora sprayed a Super Potion on him, restoring some health.

"Use Leech Life!" Hilda commanded.

Watchog let out a blast of energy, sending it to Petilil. The tiny bulb Pokemon leapt out of the way, summoning the green lights once again. These lights tacked onto Watchog, sapping out more of his energy.

"Use Grass Knot!" Hilda commanded.

"Use Super Fang!" Lenora shouted.

Watchog leapt forward, primed to bite his opponent again. Petilil rolled beneath him, attacking him with more giant leaves. He fell to the ground, his energy spent. Lenora took him inside of a Poke Ball, chuckling at Petilil.

"My my, what a surprising Pokemon you have there," Lenora smirked. "You've won today."

Petilil cheered, racing over to Hilda. Hilda picked her up, jumping for joy. They did it! Their strategy worked, and they won the battle!

Lenora handed a Badge to both Hilda and Bianca. The Badge was a simple purple color, nearly rectangular in shape. It seemed to represent the simplicity of the normal type Pokemon.

"These are for you," Lenora told them. "They are a marker of your strategic minds, as well as your cooperation with your Pokemon. I'd say you're one step closer to your goals."

Bianca blushed. "W-Well I'm not really going for the League," she muttered.

Lenora crossed her arms. "I didn't say anything about the League. Wherever your dreams take you, the Badge will show everyone how much stronger you are."

Hilda ran over to the box, pulling out her Poke Balls. "Hey, Lenora, I think I was told that you can tell where Pokemon come from," she remembered. "Could you analyze one of mine?"

Lenora stepped over to her, nodding. "Which one do you need?" she asked.

Hilda released Pikachu from her Poke Ball. Pikachu flicked her ears about, folding them in Lenora's presence.

Lenora looked at her, gasping for a minute. "...I didn't realize you were that Trainer," she muttered. "Of course I can."


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen: Stopping Thieves

Lenora grabbed out several books on pikachus, each one analyzing traits of them from different regions. Hilda sat at the table, stroking Pikachu on the head to calm her down. Bianca grabbed out her own book, this one talking about various electric type Pokemon. Hawes studied Petilil for a moment, flipping through the pages of a book on type moves.

" 'Dedenne is an electric type Pokemon from the Kalos region'," Bianca began. " 'It can fire electricity from its whiskers'."

"Ah," Hilda noted. "I've never heard of that. I mean, we are far out from everyone else, but we usually hear about other Pokemon."

"I think it's an especially rare one. At least, in Unova terms."

Lenora found a tape ruler. "Let me see Pikachu for a moment, okay?" she asked.

Hilda gently brought Pikachu over to her. The electric Pokemon studied Lenora carefully, unsure what to make of her. Lenora let her sniff her hand, and that seemed to earn her trust. Lenora used the tape ruler on her, jotting down some measurements.

"So tell me where you found her again," Lenora began.

"In the woods around Accumula Town," Hilda explained. "I was told that she might have come from Sinnoh."

"Well on the map, that is the closest region to here- which isn't saying much, all things considered. The dimensions listed in the book for Sinnoh pikachus are near identical to hers. Just a bit of a difference. Tell me, does it seem like she had eggs with another Pokemon recently?"

"I...I don't know about recently, but she does have a family."

"Must have been recently. That would be the cause of the slight difference. None of the other measurements listed match up better than these, so she's got to be from Sinnoh."

Oh, that really was far away, wasn't it? What was Team Plasma doing all the way out there? Ohhh, how many other Pokemon had they stolen from other regions? Hilda could hardly fathom the idea.

"Hey, we know where she came from now," Bianca noted. "That has to be good, right?"

Hilda scratched Pikachu on the head. Yeah, that must have been good. The mystery of Pikachu's home region was solved, at the very least.

"Hey, why don't I cheer you up with some interesting facts?" Hawes asked. "Your petilil's Ability seems to be Own Tempo. That's why Watchog's Confuse Ray didn't affect her."

"Ability?" Hilda asked.

"Pokemon have certain abilities that can help them in battle. Some give them strength depending on the weather, others give afflictions to their Pokemon, while some are unable to get confused like Petilil here. You don't usually see them too much until they come out in the heat of battle, though."

"You mean you haven't noticed Abilities in battle before?" Lenora wondered.

"We probably haven't noticed before," Bianca noted. "Wait until we tell Cheren, though. He's really going to be looking through to see what Abilities his Pokemon have."

A loud slam of the door echoed through the library, and Iris ran toward the battlefield with her axew. Her eyes were wide with fear and anxiety, and she panted heavily from her run.

"Oh, I just barely got away with my Pokemon," Iris huffed. "Lenora, it's Team Plasma! They're stealing the dragon skull! There-There's nothing I could do! Their Pokemon are all so much stronger than mine!"

Lenora nodded, grabbing out an Ultra Ball from her apron pocket. "Hawes, get your Pokemon now," she told him. "We have to go after them."

Hawes nodded, grabbing out a Pokemon of his own. The two of them ran out of the library, running after the thieves in the museum. Hilda and Bianca looked on, stupefied. Team Plasma had come, taking an artifact from here? Dread filled Hilda's stomach. If Dragon Tamer Iris couldn't do anything about this, then what chance did they have?

One of Hilda's Poke Balls broke open, and Lillipup made his way out. He ran out of the library, chasing after the villains. Hilda's heart thudded in her chest. What was he running off for? What if Team Plasma captured him, like they tried to do with Dewott before? Hilda took Petilil and Pikachu back into their Poke Balls, racing after him and ignoring objections from Iris and Bianca.

* * *

Hilda chased down Lillipup in Pinwheel Forest, among a deep thicket of trees. There were no signs of any Plasma grunts anywhere, which she found to be a blessing. Lillipup simply stomped his foot on the ground, huffing in irritation. He looked really upset at having lost the thieves.

"I know, buddy," Hilda insisted. "You really want to protect everyone. But you can't just go running off by yourself. You could get really hurt if you do."

Lillipup let out a sigh. Hilda picked him up, scratching him on the head.

"Lenora and Hawes can handle things on their own," Hilda promised him. "Let's wait for them in the museum, okay?"

Lillipup nodded morosely.

Hilda turned around, looking for the path she took to get this far in. A large figure blocked out the sun, casting a large shadow over the plants. Hilda looked up, finding a strange creature looking over them. Its green hue marked it as a guardian of the forest, with its horns mimicking a great sawsbuck. It studied her and Lillipup, red eyes widened in surprise and excitement. It pointed its snout westward, toward the road leading to the Skyarrow Bridge. It let out a loud roar to get their attention, continuously pointing.

Hilda looked at the creature for another moment. She'd never seen or heard of any Pokemon like that before. What was it? And why did it study them so closely?

Lillipup seemed more than excited about the creature's lead. He barked ferociously, begging to go in that direction.

"I guess we can go check it out," Hilda decided. "We need to be careful, though, okay?"

Lillipup barked in agreement.

Hilda ran west, taking the creature's lead. Whatever they were supposed to find, it must have been important.

* * *

The two of them eventually made their way to a forest clearing, almost directly at the route house near the Skyarrow Bridge. Four Team Plasma Grunts engaged in a battle with Lenora and Hawes. The two stronger ones fought using a liepard and a krokorok, matching up against the couple's stoutlands. The two weaker grunts, using a purrloin and a trubbish, held the dragon skull in their grasp. They argued for a moment on what to do, before running for the route house.

It was then that Lillipup leapt out of Hilda's grasp, running after the grunts. He attacked the trubbish, sinking his teeth in with a chilling grasp. Hilda found herself surprised at the move. She'd never seen it performed before. Wasn't it called Ice Fang?

"Ugh! Whose Pokemon is this!?" the trubbish's grunt gasped.

"Ours now," the purrloin's grunt insisted. "Nab it, while we have the chance!"

Hilda raced forward, shouting, "Lillipup, use Ice Fang again!"

Lillipup obliged, biting the trubbish with another chilling breath. The purrloin swiped its claws on his back, while the trubbish tackled him to the ground.

Before anyone else could move, a wave of leaves came forth, hitting both the purrloin and the trubbish. Hilda turned around, discovering a leavanny joining the fight. He was followed by Burgh, who stood directly next to the absol that Hilda had saved the other day.

"You seem to be in trouble, miss," Burgh told her. "Would you like some assistance?"

"Yes please!" Hilda cheered.

Hilda and Burgh joined up in battle, with Lillipup and Leavanny taking each other's sides. The grunts healed their Pokemon, and Hilda quickly sprayed a potion onto Lillipup. The two groups faced each other once again.

"Lillipup, bite the trubbish!" Hilda commanded.

"Leavanny, use Razor Leaf!" Burgh shouted.

"Trubbish, use Take Down on the leavanny!" the trubbish's grunt ordered.

"Purrloin, scratch the lillipup!" the purrloin's grunt demanded.

Leavanny shot a swarm of leaves at his opponents, knocking them back. The trubbish rammed itself into him, causing some damage to itself as well. Lillipup ran up, biting the trubbish on the head. The purrloin scratched him on the back again.

"Use Take Down on the purrloin!" Hilda shouted.

"Use X-Scissor on the trubbish!" Burgh commanded.

"Trubbish, use Sludge Bomb on the leavanny!" the trubbish's grunt ordered.

"Crunch the lillipup!" the purrloin's grunt yelled.

The trubbish launched a ball of purple gunk at Leavanny, though the giant bug quickly dodged out of the way. He slashed his blade-like arms on the trubbish, knocking it out. Lillipup rammed himself into the purrloin, injuring himself in the process. The purrloin bit him on the ear, digging in hard.

"Lillipup, use Ice Fang!" Hilda commanded.

"Leavanny, use X-Scissor again!" Burgh shouted.

"Purrloin, scratch the leavanny!" the purrloin's grunt growled.

The purrloin made a move to scratch Leavanny, but Lillipup bit him with chilling teeth before he could do anything. He tossed it over to Leavanny, who slashed his blade-like arms on the purrloin's body. The purrloin collapsed, its energy spent.

The grunts took their Pokemon back into their Poke Balls, sighing.

Burgh stepped up to them, his arms crossed. "I believe you have something that belongs to us," he told them. "Why don't you give it back?"

The grunts looked over to their superiors, noting how Lenora and Hawes had defeated them in battle. They begrudgingly handed the dragon skull over to him.

"Now why don't you leave as soon as possible?" Burgh asked them. "I don't think you want to cause any more trouble here."

The superior grunts took the lesser grunts away. One of them stated, "That thing wasn't the relic we were looking for anyway."

They watched as the grunts left the woods, disappearing into the trees. Hilda let out a sigh of relief. They had won. They'd gotten the dragon skull back.

A glowing light suddenly flashed up, and Hilda found that it came from Lillipup. He grew in size, the creamy fur around his face growing longer. He grew much larger, becoming sleeker in size. The light around him dissipated, revealing that his fur color hadn't changed. Yet he didn't seem like the same small Pokemon, but rather a much larger and stronger ally. The Pokedex identified him as a herdier.

"Herdier, you evolved!" Hilda cheered. She knelt down before him, scratching him behind the ears. "Oh, you did such a good job today!"

Herdier barked happily, eagerly smiling.

A loud roar sounded off again. Hilda looked to the trees, finding the same strange Pokemon among them. It nodded at them approvingly, and then vanished into the woods. Hilda blinked in confusion. Had it given them some kind of test?

* * *

They returned to the museum after a little bit, with Lenora calling a construction crew over to fix the dragon skeleton. Hilda sat outside with Herdier, where Iris and Bianca hurriedly ran over to her. They hugged her tightly, thankful that she was okay. Though Hilda was glad for their concern, they hugged her a bit too tight.

"That was extremely reckless!" Iris gasped. "What if those grunts had stolen your Pokemon?"

"I know I know, but Herdier was eager to help them out," Hilda explained. "And I mean, I'm just thankful that Burgh managed to find me and help."

Bianca looked over at Herdier, gently touching him on the head. "Oh, so he evolved? That's fantastic!" she smiled. "You two really trust each other, huh?"

Herdier barked in response.

Burgh and Lenora walked out of the museum, stepping around the girls. Watchog and Leavanny walked out behind them, though they quickly got up into their own little game. The two of them seemed rather familiar with one another. It was as if they saw each other often, though Hilda couldn't place why.

" 'It wasn't what we were looking for'. What do you suppose they meant by that?" Burgh asked.

"Everything on the news pegs them as a group set out for the liberation of Pokemon," Lenora shrugged. "They should be more focused on that instead of stealing museum artifacts. On that note, I'm not sure what they could want from the dragon skull. Maybe it has something to do with the legend of the ancient kings. They have a whole knight motif going on."

"I don't care for their rhetoric. I know I couldn't get anywhere in the world without Leavanny at my side. The two of us are joined at the hip."

"Given that they have Pokemon at their side, I doubt what they say is what they mean."

"Well, hopefully this will teach their grunts that they can't mess with Gym Leaders like us."

"Let's keep our fingers crossed."

Hilda stood up in surprise. "You're a Gym Leader, Burgh?" she asked.

Burgh turned to look at her, smiling. "Castelia City's Gym Leader," he confirmed. "If you hadn't guessed, I specialize in bug type Pokemon. Or more accurately, a paintbrush and canvas."

Lenora slapped him on the back. "Oh stop it," she chuckled. "But yeah, he'll be the third Gym Leader you'll have to face. Fourth for Iris, if I'm not mistaken."

Iris nodded in response. "You're not mistaken at all, ma'am," she replied. "I know, I'm kind of going in backwards order."

"Not too backward," Bianca insisted. "It's not like you got the seventh Gym Badge second, right?"

Iris shrugged.

They found Cheren running down the sidewalk, Timburr racing just behind him. He paused directly in front of Lenora, panting heavily.

"I'd like a battle with you," Cheren told her.

Lenora set her hands on her hips. "Determined, huh?" she wondered. "Alright, let's see what you have."


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty: Skyarrow Bridge

Hilda walked with Burgh through Pinwheel Forest the next day, taking in the scene. The forest seemed alive with bug Pokemon, yet with no petilils to come out. (It didn't seem particularly wet, of course.) Pikachu traveled alongside them, keeping close to Hilda. The absol stepped up to them again, studying Pikachu closely. Hilda let the two of them interact with one another, noting how close they seemed.

That cloaked man wanted to add the absol to his team. Maybe he had Pikachu along with him that fateful day so he could do the same with her.

"Hey Absol, do you want to join my team?" Hilda asked him. "I think you'd make a good edition, and Pikachu could use another friend."

The absol shook his head. He lifted his head up at the trees, smiling at the cottonees flying up ahead.

"You like it here, huh? Well I don't want to take you away from here unless you really want to. Take care of yourself, alright?"

The absol nodded, running off into the trees, pausing for a moment to bid farewell to Pikachu. Hilda picked her up, setting her on her back. She and Burgh continued walking.

They paused just outside of the route house to Skyarrow Bridge. Cheren and Bianca were already there, arguing about something. Hilda stayed put for a moment, hesitant to go in there. She opted to spend a few more minutes in the woods.

"You know, I saw a giant deer thing in the woods yesterday," Hilda told Burgh. "It pointed me and Herdier to the grunts with the dragon skull."

"A deer thing, you say?" Burgh smiled. "It could've been the forest guardian. People only ever get glimpses of it, though."

"This forest has a guardian?"

"People will often try to do harm to the forest for their own reasons, but the forest guardian always chases them out. It's something you can always rely on."

Burgh pulled out a Poke Ball from his pocket. "I saw something yesterday as well," he continued. "It was a volcarona, its orange wings shimmering in the sunlight like great flames. It gave me a great new idea for a piece."

"I can't wait to see that piece come out! It sounds incredible!"

"Of course, I did find one other thing, hidden in a berry bush."

Burgh released a strange bug creature from inside the Poke Ball. It had white fuzz covering its body, with a black head poking out from underneath. Reddish-orange spikes sat along the neck, resembling solar flares seen in old pictures. The Pokemon scattered about on six stubby legs, timidly looking about its surroundings.

"A volcarona can't easily care for two offspring at a time," Burgh explained. "If their eggs somehow hatch out more than one larvesta at a time, they will leave one of them in a berry bush for protection and raise the other. After a while, the larvesta can fend for itself, but… I don't know… I didn't like seeing this one all by herself."

Hilda looked at Larvesta, then back at Burgh. "What are you showing her to me, for?" she asked.

"Your passion in battle the other day really moved me. You and Herdier fought with the intent of helping Lenora and Hawes get the skull back. To protect them, and protect anyone else you care about. Tell me, how do you feel about bug Pokemon? I know they're not the most popular ones out there, but I think once you see their charm, you can come to care for them."

Hilda twiddled her thumbs nervously. "I haven't really interacted with bug Pokemon. Of course...they weren't exactly on my 'to catch' list. I wouldn't know which ones would do well for me."

Burgh chuckled. "Any Pokemon can do well for you if you work together. I can easily see you with a scolipede, riding it into battle with the rest of your Pokemon. You could look just as good with a leavanny of your own, given your own compassionate nature. You might even look good with a rough and tumble karrablast. But you need the dedication to train them, and if you have an aversion to them, none of them will look good with you."

"You seem to put a large emphasis on looks, Burgh."

"It's part of finding the right pieces to your team- no, your family. Pokemon and Trainers go through this give and take, no matter what happens to them. When the two understand each other, it makes others wonder how they could have ever been apart."

Pikachu slowly stepped up to the Larvesta, twitching her ears about in curiosity. Larvesta timidly backed away, startling the electric Pokemon. Pikachu settled down, reaching her paws out. Larvesta relaxed, eventually crawling into the embrace.

"What do you need from me?" Hilda asked.

Burgh handed her Larvesta's Poke Ball. "A little test of sorts, though you don't have to take it," he explained. "I want to see how you look with each of your Pokemon. I want to see how passionate you can be for a Pokemon you might not like at first. And on that note, I want you to battle me at the Gym using Larvesta."

Hilda's eyes widened at the idea. "She's still so small, though," she insisted.

"I know, but if she gets some good training in, she'll do a good job. It's going to take a lot of effort to get her there, though, and she won't evolve for a long time. If things don't work out during our Gym Battle, then you can give her back to me, and you can use a different Pokemon to win your Badge."

Well, Hilda had thought of working with a volcarona before. And she had wondered about bug types in the past. Perhaps a larvesta could be a good starting point. Hilda knelt before Larvesta, easing Pikachu away from her. She pulled out a few berries, setting them down before her. Larvesta sniffed at them for a moment, then nibbled on them.

"Do you want to hang out with me for a while?" Hilda asked her.

Larvesta looked back at Burgh. She then gave a curt, unsure nod to Hilda.

"It's alright, I'll take good care of you."

Hilda placed her hand forward. Larvesta gingerly stepped forward, and Hilda scratched her beneath the chin.

"So you're accepting my test, then?" Burgh asked her.

Hilda picked up Larvesta, cradling her in her arms. She took the Poke Ball from Burgh, setting it in her bag. "I want to give it a try," she decided. "Who knows what we might find?"

"Then I'll see you back at the Gym."

They bid each other farewell, and Burgh pulled out another Poke Ball. He released a braviary from this one, taking off on its back, heading forward in the direction of Castelia City. Hilda helped Pikachu onto her shoulder, and walked into the route house after her friends.

She paused once she saw Cheren and Bianca up in arms, deep in their argument.

"Come on, Bianca, the ice cream isn't mint flavored," Cheren persisted, fists clenched. "They just die it green, is all."

Bianca frowned at him, arms crossed. "And I say it _is_ mint flavored!" she spat. "It tastes like mint, doesn't it?"

"The color just messes with your mind, so you expect it to be mint flavored."

Hilda gritted your teeth. "You guys are arguing about ice cream!?" she huffed.

Cheren turned to face her. "Bianca wanted to know about the Castelia Cones, and then we got- hey, what's that Pokemon?"

Their frustration alleviated, and they went over to look at Larvesta. The bug Pokemon shrunk away from them, burying her face in the end of Hilda's elbow.

"Burgh is letting me train her for a while," Hilda explained. "He wanted to see if we could strike up a bond if we don't really trust each other at first. She's a little shy."

"That means your party's filled up," Cheren added.

"It does, doesn't it?" Bianca realized. "There's Dewott, Herdier, Pikachu, Petilil, Pansear, and now this little larvesta. Yeah, that's six. So now every Pokemon you catch is going to be sent into a PC Box for you to have to pull out."

Gosh, Hilda had forgotten all about that. But she did have six Pokemon now, and that was the rule.

Bianca sighed, messing with her hat. "It's so unfair," she lamented. "I want to befriend every single Pokemon in the region, but how can I do that when I can only have six Pokemon on my team?"

"That is the question, isn't it?" Cheren wondered. "Oh, what are we to do?"

Cheren's XTransceiver started beeping, and Hilda watched him turn it on. His eyes lit up in surprise as he saw the face on the other end. "Oh, hello Professor Juniper," he gasped.

"You're at the route house by Skyarrow Bridge, right?" Professor Juniper called from the other end.

"Yeah, at the end of Pinwheel Forest."

"Don't move! I'm on my way there!"

The three of them sat on the bench, watching as Professor Juniper ran in. Her hair flew out its bun, though it was hard to determine if it was from Minccino or anxiety. She paused as she arrived, looking around and spotting them on the bench. Professor Juniper quickly hugged the three of them, causing Pikachu and Larvesta to jump on the ground in fear. Pikachu guarded Larvesta, growling at this woman who she had never met before.

"It's alright, Pikachu," Hilda told her. "Professor Juniper is a friend."

Professor Juniper looked at Pikachu, gasping in shock. "You _do_ have a pikachu, then," she realized.

"What is this about, exactly?" Cheren asked her.

Professor Juniper stepped back, fixing her bun. "You've been watching the news, haven't you?" she asked them. "It's just been buzzing about Hilda and her pikachu, not to mention all that stuff about Team Plasma. I wasn't sure if any of it was true at first, but of course Hilda's mother told me about the pikachu, and… that team hasn't given you any trouble, have they?"

"They've given us a little bit of trouble, but we're okay," Bianca explained.

That didn't seem to be the right answer, as Professor Juniper's face contorted itself in shock and worry.

"They're nothing but thugs," Cheren insisted. "It's no trouble to get them to leave us alone."

Hilda wasn't sure of that. From the way they had treated Pikachu and Absol, to the way they harmed Munna, the way they broke into the museum, the way they kidnapped Audino, the way they…

The way they...nearly kidnapped Dewott before his and Hilda's adventure could begin.

And they had been so close to Nuvema Town when it happened.

Hilda didn't say anything about it, though. She didn't want to worry Professor Juniper any more than she was already.

"Hey, why don't we talk about something else?" Bianca decided. "Professor, let's show you our Pokemon!"

Professor Juniper smiled. "Yes, you must have met some great Pokemon so far," she agreed. "I'd like to see them."

The kids released their Pokemon. Dewott, Pignite and Servine eagerly ran up to Professor Juniper, happy to see her. Herdier sniffed at Lilly, chuckling at how she still hadn't evolved. Purrloin went after Pidove, much to the bird Pokemon's chagrin. Petilil ran over to Timburr, followed by a hesitant Pansear. Mienfoo walked over to Pikachu, smiling and patting her on the head. Munna floated over to Larvesta, curious about her presence there.

Professor Juniper grinned widely at this. "Your teams look really great," she agreed. "I hope you meet more wonderful Pokemon on your journey."

"You don't have to worry about us," Hilda promised her. "We'll be fine as long as we stick together."

"Of course, of course. Remember, though, that if you need anything, just give me a call."

"Will do, Professor," Bianca determined. "And we promise to keep updating the Pokedex, too. Everything it talks about is just so fascinating, you know. We can't afford to miss it."

They said their goodbyes to Professor Juniper, making their way to the other end of the route house.

* * *

Skyarrow Bridge was the longest bridge in Unova. It stretched across the sea, connecting each part of the region together. The outer region, which held tightly to the simplicity of life, and the inner region, which yearned to grow and change with the times and so became more complex. Castelia City was just beyond reach, and if it took them all day to trek there, then so be it.

The kids leaned against the railing for a moment, taking in the scene. Their Pokemon clambored to their sides, eager to get the view as well. (Though Pidove had to save Petilil from falling off the railing.) Hilda gasped at the wide ocean that stretched before them, amazed by the deep blue waves contrasting with the light blue sky. It seemed like the ocean could go on forever, with no other region in sight. Unova appeared like an isolated little rock, didn't it?

"I've never seen the ocean quite like this before," Bianca gasped. "It didn't seem so big back home."

"The world has opened up more," Hilda suggested. "That's what I believe, at least."

Cheren fixed his glasses, trying to hide the awe on his face.

Bianca looked forward in the direction of Castelia City. "It's a long way to go, don't you think?" she wondered.

"We better get started, then," Cheren decided.

Hilda stepped away from the railing, collecting Larvesta and Petilil in her arms. "Race you!" she declared.

"That seems silly, doesn't it?" Cheren wondered.

"It'll be faster! Come on!"

Hilda started off, the rest of her Pokemon running behind her. She felt the sea breeze on her face, wondering how her long hair flowed with each step. She heard footsteps behind her, finding that Cheren and Bianca had given in and now joined her in the race. They all hurried along, each trying to outdo the other. They reached the route house at this pace, pausing just before it. Hilda found that her legs and chest burned from the sprint, and she panted heavily alongside the others.

"Who won?" Bianca asked.

"It doesn't really matter," Hilda decided. "Hey, at least we're here."

Cheren stepped forward, though he still panted heavily. "Let's go into the city then," he declared.

Hilda and Bianca followed after him, gathering their Pokemon for the trip.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One: Living Arrangements

Great towers of buildings stood before them, each one appearing so close that no one could squeeze past them. People flooded the streets, all hurrying to their daily affairs. Pokemon scattered about, though many of them seemed like they didn't have Trainers looking after them. Of course, people and Pokemon did cling close to one another, each one enjoying each other's company on a nice afternoon. Castelia City was certainly busy.

The kids hovered at the entrance to the route house, astounded by the sheer size of the city. They had been told that Castelia City was the biggest city in Unova, but somehow they hadn't thought of exactly what it meant.

Cheren picked up a map from the counter of the route house, returning to the girls and scanning it. "Alright, we should find the Gym first, just so we know where it's at," he insisted. "Then we look for a place to stay. After we have found a hotel, we should-"

"Wait wait wait, you can't just take the reins on our trip again," Bianca argued. "We're in the big city! We should go exploring! I, for one, want to get my hands on Castelia Cones. I hear they're the best in the world!"

"It wouldn't be a bad idea to explore," Hilda thought, arms crossed. "But I think we need to find a place to stay before we do absolutely anything. Save looking for the Gym after we've done that."

Cheren smiled at her idea. "Better than what I thought of," he noted. "Yes, let's find a place to stay first. Don't worry Bianca, we'll explore once we have that down."

Bianca nodded, though she seemed down about the idea.

They took their Pokemon back into their Poke Balls, opting to have only one each to travel with them. Hilda chose Petilil, Bianca chose Munna, and Cheren chose Purrloin. The three Pokemon chased each other about, though Purrloin played rather roughly with them.

"Play nice, or I'll trade you out for Pidove!" Cheren snapped.

Purrloin hissed in contempt, though he backed off.

"Stay close, everyone," Bianca told the Pokemon. "This city is really rather big."

They gathered their Pokemon in their arms, heading off into the city.

* * *

They made their way to a hotel, noting how busy it was. People gathered in the common room, chatting about their day. A little red darumaka sat in the corner of the front desk, worriedly waiting for someone. The kids made their way to the desk, ringing the bell for the receptionist to come up. He did so, though not without a large amount of papers falling out of his arms.

"We're looking for a room," Hilda told him. "Do you have any available?"

"I believe we have one room available," the receptionist told her. He flipped through a book, confirming the details. "It's on the top floor, available for 600 dollars a night."

Bianca stammered at this. "Wait, we can't afford that!" she argued. "Could you drop it down?"

Cheren dug through his bag, pulling out their Trainer IDs and handing them to him.

"Oh, you're going after the Badges, huh?" the receptionist asked. He flipped through the book again, groaning his head. "All the rooms for Trainers have been filled up."

"That can't be possible!" Cheren argued.

"Are you sure you can't fix something up for us?" Hilda muttered.

"I wish there was something I could do," the receptionist sighed. "We're swamped as it is, here. You might have better luck somewhere else, but I don't know how much time you want to take with that. Perhaps it would be better to ask a friend who lives here if you could stay with them."

The group deflated, accepting the conditions. They made a move to turn away, but Hilda noted that Cheren stayed put for a moment longer. He studied the darumaka, noting how sad and lonely it seemed.

"Sir, how long has he been there?" Cheren asked.

"Oh, little Darumaka? At least a month," the receptionist explained. "His old Trainer left him here. Not on purpose, though...he did seem rather frail last time he was here...we're not sure what happened to him, though."

"Oh, poor little baby," Bianca moped

Cheren patted Darumaka on the head, recoiling a bit when he yelped. Darumaka eventually accepted the gesture, placing his forehead into Cheren's palm.

"I could take him with me," Cheren decided. "I think the two of us could work well together."

"By all means," the receptionist decided.

Cheren took out a Poke Ball, tapping it on the darumaka's forehead. The Poke Ball took the darumaka in a white light, shaking three times until clicking shut. Cheren picked it up, following after the girls.

* * *

The group searched for a while, only to find that each other hotel was in a similar predicament. The sky grew darker, somehow a mixture of purple and gray, hinting at night time- though it seemed rather foreboding. They walked along the sidewalk, keeping their Pokemon close to them.

"This city really is rather large," Hilda lamented. "At any other time, it might be fun to explore."

"What if we can't find somewhere to stay?" Bianca stammered. "Are we going to have to sleep in an alleyway? Oh dear, what if there are rattata? I can't bear to think of it!"

"There are no rattata in Unova," Cheren hissed. "And we won't have to sleep in an alleyway. Let's just find a phone booth or a Pokemon Center, look through a phonebook and find someone here who will let us stay with them."

A Poke Ball opened up in Cheren's bag, and Darumaka came out. Hilda chuckled at this, noting how attached he seemed to him. This was, so far, the second time during their trip that he had made his way out. Cheren sighed, picking him up and carrying him. Purrloin growled in jealousy, climbing up closer to Cheren's cheek and causing his Trainer some irritation.

"Do you think Burgh could help us?" Hilda wondered. "We know he lives in the city."

"Oh, is he still at the Gym?" Bianca muttered. "Does he have a place of his own? That would be so nice if we could find him."

A roll of thunder passed over them. Purrloin clutched onto Cheren's shoulder fearfully, and Darumaka shivered nervously. Munna pressed herself into Bianca's body, accepting an embrace from her equally nervous Trainer. Petilil leapt out of Hilda's grasp with a cheer, hopping onto the sidewalk. Hilda grunted and ran after her, with Cheren and Bianca following suit. This was the absolute worst time for her to run off.

They came across a blue avian Pokemon with webbed feet, and Petilil seemed to hit it off with him. The Pokedex called him a ducklett, and described him as liking the water almost as much as petilils did. A familiar green-haired Trainer ran up to him, staggering with his arms loaded with groceries. Hilda could recognize that green hair anywhere.

"N!" Hilda gasped. "Small world, huh?"

N looked at the group in bewilderment. "What reason did you guys have for being out here?" he asked. "I was trying to get back to my place before the storm hit."

"Wait, so it's supposed to storm?" Cheren asked.

"You watch the weather reports, right? A big storm is supposed to hit. I'm sure you all just heard that roll of thunder."

Bianca whimpered, running up to him. "We need your help!" she shouted. "We have nowhere to stay! Everywhere it's too full or too expensive! This city is too big, and we don't know anyone here! We might have to sleep in an alleyway!"

N nodded, giving a soft smile. "Well we definitely can't allow that," he agreed. "Why don't you come with me to my place? It shouldn't be much farther now."

Hilda picked up Petilil, scratching her head. "That sounds more than wonderful," she agreed. "Thank you so much."

Cheren narrowed his gaze, but he nodded in agreement.

N led the way, and they made their way down the sidewalk.

* * *

As the drizzle began, the group paused in front of a rather luxurious building, one that seemed out of the price range for any young Trainer. While Hilda, Cheren and Bianca hesitated, N made his way right inside. They decided to go along with it, waving to the reception and following the strange Trainer to the elevator. N pressed a button for the ninth floor, and they were taken up in the clunky machine. Hilda noted how N clung nervously to the back railing, adamant in this despite his load of groceries.

"Don't like elevators?" Hilda wondered.

"I'm apparently still not used to it," N lamented.

Cheren winced as Purrloin jumped off of his shoulder. He focused his attention toward N. "So what business do you have staying in such an expensive place?" he asked.

"Cheren," Bianca gasped. "Watch your tone, please."

The elevator jumped up slightly as it stopped on the floor, opening its doors for everyone inside. N made his way out, explaining, "This was my father's idea, mostly. He has a lot of money, you see, and he wanted to make sure I stayed in 'the best place in Castelia City'."

"What does your dad do?" Hilda wondered.

"He's a rather accomplished businessman. Though you might chuckle at how far he went in giving me a place to stay."

N walked down the hallway, and the others followed him. He paused at a door that was rather scratched up on the bottom, kicking at it to mimic knocking. The door opened, revealing a man in a nice-looking suit on the other side. He opened the door wide, allowing N and the others to walk inside. Hilda looked at the gentleman, noting how he looked at her and her friends suspiciously. The man didn't seem bitter toward Ducklett, who ran over to N to help with groceries.

"Hello sir," Bianca beamed. "N is letting us stay here for the time being. We hope you don't mind."

Purrloin crept toward the man, snarling bitterly. No warning from Cheren could get him to back off, and he bit the man on the ankle. The man's form suddenly shifted in front of their eyes, becoming a dark-furred creature with long red hair, the end of the red locks tied back with a blue bead. The creature slowly picked up Purrloin, growling in warning.

N hurriedly left the kitchen, setting a hand on the creature's shoulder. "Easy Zoroark, they're friends of mine," he told the creature.

The creature relented, setting Purrloin on the ground and allowing him to run back to Cheren.

Hilda and her friends looked on in shock. Bianca lifted a shaky finger up, stammering, "Wh-what was-"

"Zoroark has been my guardian for a long time," N explained. "She gets rather defensive around me."

Bianca pulled out her Pokedex, cataloging the strange creature. "Oh, so illusions are her forte," she realized. "But… what do you mean by 'guardian'?"

N shrugged. "It would take a long time to explain," he insisted. "But why don't you make yourselves at home? You should get to know the layout of the flat."

Hilda set Petilil on the ground, allowing her to run around as she pleased. She walked around, taking in the scene. Indeed, N's flat was rather large. The living room was spacious, with luxurious couches and loveseats set around a massive television set. A large window stretched across the wall, showing them the rainy city outside. Hilda walked down the hall, spotting the bathroom with glistening tiles and porcelain counters. At the end of the hall was a grand bedroom, housing a bed nearly the size of the ground it sat upon. A nightstand was missing, however, and the spacious closet was practically empty, save for one change of clothes and the rustling of an unseen Pokemon.

"Do you keep anything in your room?" Hilda asked.

"Not really," N called back. "If I thought I was staying long, I might."

"What counts as 'long'?"

"More than a month, I should say."

Hilda walked back to the kitchen, finding that Cheren and Bianca had decided to look around the flat as well. They began releasing their Pokemon, allowing them to travel around the flat with them. Hilda grabbed out her Poke Balls, releasing her Pokemon as well. Pikachu twitched her ears at the unfamiliar surroundings, but lightened up once she saw N.

"Your dad certainly did go all out for this," Hilda decided. "You should give him a big 'thank you' the next time you see him."

"I'll remember to do that," N replied.

As soon as he had set his groceries away, he turned his attention to Pikachu. He picked her up and cradled her in his arms, giving her a gentle scratch on the head. They tossed another strange back-and-forth chat to each other, though Pikachu became a bit cross this time around, and N raised an eyebrow in confusion. Hilda still didn't quite understand what it was about.

* * *

The night stretched on, and everyone gathered around the television to waste time before they had to settle in. Their Pokemon had gathered in a pile to sleep, though Dewott stuck close to Hilda on the couch. Each individual got to choose which program they watched at least once, with Bianca picking fashion programs, Hilda picking item analysis programs, and Cheren picking Trainer programs.

A Trainer Feature coming all the way from the Pokemon League came on the television, featuring an intense battle between Elite Four Shauntal and a young Ace Trainer. Shauntal's chandelure fought against the girl's beheeyem, and after a large struggle, came out victorious.

"Oh, and Beheeyem was so close to winning, too…," Bianca muttered.

Cheren cocked his head at the screen, perched up on the love seat. "Is it me, or… do the Elite Four seem tougher than usual?" he asked. "Each Feature I've seen which involves them usually involves them casually mowing down their opponents. In the past, challengers would get more than a few hits in before they experienced a loss. Now they're just like fodder coming in so the Elites don't get bored."

"Does it seem like that?" Hilda wondered. "I know they're supposed to be tough, but they can't be impossible to defeat."

"Whatever it is, I know my Pokemon and I have a lot of work ahead of us."

Hilda turned her gaze to N, who appeared a bit distressed from watching the battle. She couldn't really guess what was on his mind, though.

"You don't mind if I have the remote, do you?" N muttered.

Cheren let out a soft sigh, getting up and handing the remote over. N flipped the channel, landing on an old martial arts movie starring a man with his white hair in a braid.

"Oh, I'm familiar with this one!" Hilda smiled. "Brycen is the star! He goes up against a swath of invading Team Rocket members!"

"Protect Undella Town, Brycen!" N chuckled.

Bianca silently got up, making her way to the bathroom. Running water sounded off, and Cheren bolted after her as she uttered, "Wow, look at the water shooting up!" Hilda sat alone on the couch with N, a thousand questions buzzing through her mind. She decided on the first one she had to ask.

"This seems… silly, but… Can you talk to Pokemon?" Hilda asked, stuffing her hands in her vest pockets.

N looked at her in surprise, and silently nodded.

Hilda's eyes widened, and she sat upright, nearly bumping her elbow on Dewott. "That's incredible! Where did you learn how to?" she asked. "I've been wishing for weeks to be able to talk to Pokemon!"

N twiddled his thumbs, deep in thought. "It's like… I'm not sure. It sort of came to me when I was young, after spending a lot of time with them," he explained. "You wish to speak to them, though?"

"Yes. Trainers can tell what their Pokemon want through the movements they make, but you can't exactly ask 'Where are the berries' and expect yourself to understand the response. I want to listen closely to what they're telling me, more than just watching what they do."

"I'm not sure how I could teach you. I don't really know how I learned it to begin with."

"How does it work for you?"

"It's like… it's like listening closely to the noises they make. When I was young, they sounded like words to me, and I figured out what they were saying from that. You could practice with that, too. Listen to their sounds, and you might begin to understand."

Hilda looked at Dewott, who cocked his head in confusion. He let out a bark, containing a sound that she couldn't understand at all.

"Your Pokemon must really like you, though," Hilda decided. "You can attend to their needs much better than most Trainers can."

N shrugged. "I feel like they don't tell me everything," he admitted. "I feel like they resent me for sending them into tough battles."

"I don't think it's like that. They wouldn't listen to you if they resented you. And battling is just the nature of Pokemon training."

N's gaze turned forward, staring off at nothing. "Is it, though? Pokemon get so worked up during battles. I could hear Chandelure and Beheeyem's cries during their ordeal, growling at each other and insisting that they were going to win. I could hardly stand it. If I had control of the League, I might just tear it down."

Hilda touched a finger to her chin in thought. She knew where he was coming from. She knew that Pokemon could get worked up in an intense fight. But not all fights were like that. Petilil didn't seem tense during her battle with Watchog- indeed, when she thought the fight was hers, she was anything but worked up. Mienfoo as well seemed more calm and collected. In altercations with Team Plasma, however, she knew that Dewott had been rather worked up, more from worry than anything else, though. Heck, it probably came from how worried _she_ was.

"Well, maybe they were like that because Beheeyem's Trainer could have immediately made it to fight the Champion," Hilda suggested. "It's Chandelure's job to make it hard for a Trainer and their Pokemon to get there. The stakes are higher there than at a plain old Gym Battle."

"...Hmm…"

"It's...It's kind of like when Cheren and I were younger. I'd come over to his house, and we'd play his racing game together. A lot of it involved us yelling at each other, insisting that I should have beaten him or he should have beaten me. But we never meant to hurt each other, and when we got older and closer with one another, we learned how to calm down. Chandelure and Beheeyem didn't really know each other, and if they were closer or if things were more relaxed, they'd probably be friendlier during the battle."

N looked back at her. "Is that what you see when you battle with your Pokemon?"

"Kind of, yeah. You just have to consider all possibilities, is what I'm trying to say. It wears down on you to immediately jump to the negative all the time."

Zoroark moved up to the couch, sniffing at the air. She picked up N, cradling him in her arms. N tried to wriggle away from her, but she still turned toward the hallway all the same.

"Zoroark, you don't have to do that! I'm not a little kid anymore!" N whined.

Hilda chuckled. "Is she trying to bring you to bed?" she asked.

"Ah, you understand Pokemon better than you believe."

Hilda scratched Dewott on the head. "That's not a bad idea. I think we should get settled in ourselves. Goodnight, N."

"Yeah, goodnight."


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty-Two: Iris' Fighting Dojo

A beeping sound from Bianca's XTranseiver woke them up the next morning. Hilda and Cheren watched as Bianca clumsily went after it, answering the person on the other side.

"H-Hello…?" Bianca mumbled, stifling a yawn.

"You sound sleepy! Don't tell me you're wasting this fine beautiful morning on sleep!" Iris' voice shouted. "The Battle Company! Right now! Take the train! Do it! Go!"

"Can we get ready first?"

"It doesn't matter if it takes you a thousand years to get there! Just go!"

Then the line disconnected.

Hilda ran her fingers through her snarled hair. "I didn't realize you had Iris in your contact list," she told Bianca.

"I added her when you ran off to get the dragon skull back," Bianca explained. "We thought it might be nice to get in touch with each other on our journey."

"Well, I guess we know what we're doing today," Cheren decided, stretching out. "Let's get ready, hm?"

* * *

The group left the building, heading out to the damp but sunny city. Now that they didn't have to fret about where to stay, Castelia City was much more inviting than before. They could travel anywhere they wanted to. And today, they were going to take the train to the Battle Company.

Petilil got away from Hilda again when they reached a train station. She didn't get too far, however, simply wishing to splash in a puddle closeby. Once the train came by, Hilda promptly picked her up, and the group filed onto the train.

It was amazing how quickly the train filled up with passengers. While Cheren and Hilda could get seats by the windows, poor Bianca was forced to stand and hold onto the pole. She appeared rather off balance while standing, as she also had to hold onto a shaking Munna. Travelers from everywhere gathered on, and the train car filled with chatter about the Pokemon they had. It got especially loud when a well-seasoned Trainer showed off an eevee they had found in Johto.

"An eevee!? Come here! Let me see it!" Bianca gasped. She made no attempt to go over, however, frightened of losing the spot she had found for herself.

Hilda made sure she kept Petilil close to her, worried about losing her in the crowd. Darumaka seemed rather cozy nestled in Cheren's jacket, rolled up in a ball and looking almost as tired as his Trainer did. While Cheren always geared up for a chance to train, he appeared a little out of it this morning.

"Couldn't sleep?" Hilda asked him.

"You try sleeping in a flat with someone you hardly know," Cheren muttered. "I'm okay, though."

The train started up, sending them on their way. Hilda looked out the window, with Petilil crawling onto her shoulder. They watched the buildings pass them by, nearly moving faster than the eye could follow. The train lifted up onto a higher track, allowing them to see just how tall the buildings were. It hadn't been enough to see them from the ground- now they were at the same level, and it was much more exciting.

"Cheren, look!" Hilda gasped.

But Cheren didn't respond. Hilda looked over at him, finding that he'd quickly fallen asleep. She decided to leave him be. Cheren needed his own bit of peace, and if the train could offer it, then more power to him.

* * *

Iris made the Battle Company sound more exciting than it actually was. Boring people wearing boring suits off doing boring work. Even they seemed bored with their business. Something within them struggled to get out, whether it be excitement or freedom. But the choice to be stuck in an office job did not suit the three Trainers at all.

In all fairness, though, Iris hadn't said too much about it. But from the way she spoke, they thought it would be a place where Trainers from all over Unova would be battling.

They met her outside of an office door, noting how she jumped about in excitement. Her axew popped out of her hair, roaring in excitement. As soon as she saw the three Trainers, she practically jumped for joy, bringing them closer to the door.

"You made it! I thought I was going to lose it!" Iris gasped. "Welcome to the Battle Company!"

"We're glad you're happy," Hilda muttered. "But...Um… what exactly are we doing here?"

Iris placed her hands on her hips, smirking at them. "I invite you all to this grand Fighting Dojo that I've discovered," she announced. "Here we will grow and do better and become the best Trainers possible."

"Dojo?" Bianca repeated.

"I don't think you're making it clear enough," Cheren insisted. "Where are all of the Trainers?"

Iris skipped out of the way, standing in the middle of the hall. She shouted at passing janitors, whistling to get their attention.

"Hey! We're here! You can battle us!" she yelled.

The janitors gasped in glee, pulling out Poke Balls.

Hilda, Cheren and Bianca jumped in surprise. So the workers were the Trainers they were here to battle?

"They're always geared up to battle," Iris explained. "I came through here yesterday trying to get my bearings, and they explained how they wanted to study the moves from Trainers. I told them that I had a few friends in the city who needed to prepare for their Gym Battle, and they agreed to help."

"Aw, that's really nice of you to let us know," Bianca smiled. "So how are we going about this, anyway? Are they going to use ground types, or…?"

"That wouldn't be a good test of your skills, now would it?" one janitor, his nametag reading Sam, insisted. "If you're going up against Burgh, he's not going to use a ground type Pokemon on you. We need to prepare you for that. Therefore…"

Sam released the Pokemon from his Pokemon, showing off a tiny white-and-blue bear-like Pokemon. It shivered, despite there being no chill in the air. Snot dripped from its nose, yet it didn't seem concerned about wiping it away.

"Cubchoo should be a good opponent," Sam explained. "Which of you kids is going first?"

Hilda grabbed the Poke Ball containing Pansear. She released him from inside, showing him to his opponent. Pansear looked at Cubchoo, giving him a modest, friendly smirk.

"You're going to use Pansear first?" Cheren asked. "What about your deal?"

"Larvesta wouldn't do well against an ice type," Hilda reminded him. "And Pansear still needs to get some training in the meantime."

At this point, Pansear knew Lick, Incinerate, Fury Swipes and Flame Burst. She wondered how well he could do in battle when he wasn't stressed out by an abusive Trainer.

"Let's do our best, alright Pansear?" Hilda asked him.

Pansear nodded in reply.

"Alright, use Incinerate!"

"Cubchoo, use Fury Swipes!" Sam shouted.

Pansear went first, shooting a jet of flame from his mouth. The flames struck Cubchoo, causing some damage. Cubchoo raced forward, repeatedly slicing its claws on Pansear. The claws struck three times, leaving some severe injury.

"Cubchoo, use Powder Snow!" Sam commanded.

"Pansear, use Flame Burst!" Hilda commanded.

Pansear let out a yelp, covering his head with his hands. He shook terribly, whimpering from the command he was given. Cubchoo noticed his discomfort, and didn't attack.

"Oh no, what happened?" Iris asked.

Hilda knelt down, stroking Pansear's arm to calm him down. "Okay, I'm sorry," she sighed. "We don't have to use that move if you don't want to."

Pansear looked at her with sad eyes, nodding in relief.

Hilda stood back up. "Use Incinerate again!" she commanded.

Pansear shot out another jet of flame, striking Cubchoo. His opponent shot a powdery cloud of snow at him, but he quickly dodged the attack before it could hit.

"We're probably close," Hilda deemed. "Incinerate it once more!"

"Cubchoo, use Brine!" Sam shouted.

Cubchoo didn't get to use the move, as Pansear's flame hit it before it could do so. It fainted, falling to the ground. Sam took it back inside its Poke Ball, nodding at Hilda.

"That's a nice Incinerate," he told her. "But we'll have to teach Pansear another fire type move in order to give him some versatility. You know what I mean?"

Hilda picked up Pansear, letting him perch on her back. "Yeah. We'll have to figure it out," she agreed. "Hopefully he'll learn another move as our training progresses."

Cheren stepped up, releasing Pidove from his Poke Ball. Pidove looked about with curious eyes, though he seemed more energetic than usual.

"Do you guys have a grass type we could battle against?" Cheren asked. "I think Pidove needs one more battle for experience before he evolves."

A janitor, whose name tag listed him as Jack, walked up to him. He held out a Poke Ball, releasing a magenta-colored beetle Pokemon from inside. This one was a venipede, a breed of Bug Type Pokemon that were much larger than others of the kind- and it was still in the first stage of evolution.

"My guy's close to evolving, too," Jack explained. "Let's go easy on each other, okay?"

Cheren grunted in response, seemingly displeased with this idea. The two of them commanded their Pokemon to fight one another, carefully directing them on what to do. The venipede dodged each of Pidove's wing attacks, and Pidove did the same for the venipede's poison stings. The two Pokemon went at this for a while, long enough for the other Trainers to get bored of watching them.

"You two want to battle me?" Iris asked. "I've pretty much fought against everyone here before you guys showed up. I'm looking for a bit of a challenge."

"I guess so," Hilda shrugged. "I do still need to have Larvesta practice, and I don't normally have Pikachu battle. What do you think, Bianca?"

"Sounds like fun," Bianca decided. "Maybe I'll do it in a little while. I'd like to explore the city for a bit."

Iris nodded. "We'll see you around, then," she decided.

Hilda made her way out of the building with her Pokemon in tow. She found herself excited by the prospect of training with Iris. The Dragon Trainer seemed like a formidable opponent. How would she fare against her if they had a serious battle?


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty-Three: Munna's Peril

Hilda and Iris made it to the local park, where several Trainers already battled one another. Here, the two girls hid by a cluster of trees, where they brought their teams together to battle one another. Dewott lost against Zweilous, Pikachu won against Archen, and Pansear and Fraxure battled to a draw. A surprising victory came from Herdier, who went up against the powerhouse Druddigon.

"That herdier is quite spirited," Iris smirked, hands on her hips. "You caught a strong Pokemon."

Hilda rubbed the back of her neck. "He was the first Pokemon I caught, alongside Pikachu," she explained. "I guess you could say we trust each other."

"Oh yeah, that makes total sense. It's like me and Fraxure. The two of us have been together for a long time, travelling and working together. Time and memories create strong bonds."

Hilda patted Herdier on the head, smiling.

Iris pulled out another Poke Ball. "So Larvesta has yet to battle, right?" she asked. "Who do you think she should go up against?"

Little Larvesta, who watched behind Hilda's boots the entire time, shook with every fiber of her being. She was still quite nervous around everything, and she had yet to enter a real battle. There had to be a way to reassure her about battling. That deal with Burgh still existed, after all.

"You have an axew on hand, right?" Hilda asked. "That might be pretty tame for Larvesta at the moment."

The axew popped out of Iris' hair, munching on one of her pigtails. Iris tickled the tiny dragon's chin, humming in thought. "Axew's been rather rambunctious, lately," she explained. "I think he might evolve soon. I've heard that it takes a long time for larvestas to evolve, so it might be better to get her used to stronger opponents."

"She has to get used to weak opponents before she faces up against stronger ones, right?"

"Fair point. Actually, I do have some more axews in my PC Box that I got through...erm, breeding. I haven't gotten a chance to train them, yet, so any one of them might make a good first opponent for Larvesta. Let's go back to the Pokemon Center."

Hilda nodded, picking up Larvesta and cradling her.

The girls walked together, making their way down a concrete path out of the park and back onto the sidewalk. Herdier and Zweilous walked close together, trailing just a few inches behind their Trainers. Castelia City was alive with activity, with swarms of people and Pokemon walking in the street. Hilda looked over in one part of the city, spotting a long line of patrons waiting in front of an ice cream stand. A few children ran past them, playing with their own Pokemon. City life seemed very complex, and it seemed to suit a large amount of people.

Their XTransceivers suddenly went off. Hilda answered hers, hearing a stuttering, pouting Bianca on the other end.

"It's-It's terrible!" Bianca's voice cried. "I was-was by the park area when-when-"

"Slow down and take a deep breath," Hilda urged her. "What happened?"

"Team Plasma attacked me and took Munna!"

Hilda's heart dropped into her stomach. Those fiends stole her friend's Pokemon? This act couldn't go forgotten. They had to do something to get Munna back!

"You said you were by the park area?" Iris shouted. "Do you think they could still be around there?"

"I don't know," Bianca's voice wailed. "I didn't see where they went."

Iris looked up at Hilda. "Those guys still have to be in the area, right? It's a good starting point, at least."

"Stay where you are, Bianca," Hilda insisted. "We're going to get Munna back."

"Th-Thank you…"

Hilda disconnected the line. She commanded Herdier to run ahead of them, and then turned around and started running back toward the park. The group made their way back to the small collection of trees they had battled at before, and then ran back toward the fountain and the benches. Some of the park goers appeared confused, looking from a different direction than the girls came from. Herdier paused to sniff around them for a moment, before barking at the girls to follow him. They ran up north out of the park and onto another street, skirting past pedestrians as they hurried along. Herdier led them down a back alley, where slight purple mist hovered by their feet in blotches. They spotted three men in gaudy knight-like clothing up ahead, one of them holding too tightly to a munna- Bianca's Munna, no doubt.

They also saw where the men were going. A large gray truck sat just a few feet ahead of them. And where the girls stood, they had no chance of getting to them in time.

Hilda kept her resolve all the same, shouting, "Herdier, run up ahead of that truck!"

Herdier nodded in response.

By the time the girls arrived to the other side of the alley, the men got onto the truck and started driving away. As he had been commanded to do, Herdier ran alongside the truck. The girls paused to catch their breath, resting their hopes on the shaggy dog-like Pokemon. Hilda noticed a slit on the back door, where a few big eyes stared out at them. Those looked like Pokemon eyes. Munna wasn't the only one these Team Plasma grunts were stealing today.

The girls started running again, following after the truck. The truck drove down a less-crowded street, making its way toward a strange building just across from the local Gym. The truck suddenly screeched and swerved, turning left and narrowly avoiding Herdier. The truck fell on its side, something bursting within it that made it catch fire. The Team Plasma grunts climbed out the door, releasing Munna from their grasps.

Hilda and Iris stood by the wreck for a moment, grimacing at each other and trying to figure out what to do. The Pokemon were going to suffocate and burn in that truck if they didn't do something. A shout from the grunts drew their attention toward them, causing Iris to direct Zweilous at their Pokemon. That was one less distraction to solving this crisis. Hilda decided that she would have to open up that truck.

She ran right up to it, stepping back a few paces due to the intensity of the flames. Gas had caused the fire, right? That meant Dewott's water attacks wouldn't be able to put it out. Their main focus had to be on getting the doors open. Hilda set Larvesta on the ground, shouting, "Larvesta, use Hidden Power on the door!"

Larvesta stared at the burning truck, wide-eyed, and backed up toward Hilda.

"I'm right here with potions if you need them. But the Pokemon in that truck really need us right now. We're the only ones who can get them out."

Larvesta gave a shaky nod. She summoned a strange energy around her, shooting it at the truck's back doors. The attack didn't break the doors, but it did leave a sizeable dent in them.

"That's great!" Hilda shouted. "Do it again!"

Larvesta shot another energy blast at the door. This attack punched a hole into the door, allowing the Pokemon inside to escape. They were common Pokemon- patrats, purrloins, and lillipups- but some of them appeared rather exotic. Poochyenas, swablus, rattatas...these and many more ran out of the truck. The last Pokemon to squeeze their way out was a giant orange raichu, who made its way down a sewer grate upon escaping.

A raichu…? Could it be…?

Before Hilda had time to run after the raichu, the sounds of battle ahead of her suddenly ceased. She turned around, spotting the Team Plasma grunts take their Pokemon back into their Poke Balls. Iris stood with Zweilous, Herdier and Munna, shielding them from the newcomer that interrupted the battle. The newcomer in question was an elderly man in finely crafted robes, with long green hair flowing down his shoulders and back. He had a red glass that went over one eye, as well as a stern countenance from his furrowed features. This man just seemed to menacing. It was as if he could shake the foundation of the earth just by walking into a room.

"It seems we've had some trouble with the truck over here," the old man noted with chilling calm. "Surely there's a reasonable explanation for such trouble."

"Th-the herdier, Sire," one of the grunts stammered. "It ran right in front of us. We were trying to avoid hitting it."

The old man glared at Herdier. "That herdier seems tame somehow. I'm well aware that Pokemon don't thrive well enough in the city to evolve. Surely the… young Trainers over here know who the herdier belongs to."

There was no getting out of this, was there? Hilda picked up Larvesta, stepping closer toward the group. "He-He's my herdier, sir," she stammered. "There was an...emolga. I don't know if it belonged to someone else or if it was wild, but Herdier was compelled to run after it. We ran across the truck by happenstance. Y-You're men- these… _are_ your men, aren't they?"

The old man hummed in thought.

"They thought we had something to do with it, but we only came by on accident."

"It's possible that a Trainer could command their Pokemon to cause a crash. That's one unfortunate implication of the society we live in. You're absolutely certain this was an accident?"

Iris glared at him, seemingly unwavered by the old man's presence. "Vehicles are becoming rare in the cities, due to their harmful effects on Pokemon," she growled in response. "How are we supposed to assume that a truck is even _in_ Castelia City?"

"Fair point," the old man replied coolly. "Then what of the hole in the back of the truck?"

The truck suddenly exploded, pieces of metal flying too close for comfort. A wheel rolled around them before falling on its side.

"Well, you wouldn't want the Pokemon inside the truck to experience _that,_ would you?" Iris asked sarcastically.

"I...only noticed them in there when we came close to the crash," Hilda fibbed.

"It seems I should take your word on it," the old man decided.

He then looked at Larvesta, who shivered under his gaze. "You must be quite the Trainer, aren't you?" the old man asked. "Not many young ones can easily find larvestas."

Hilda's throat went dry. He didn't recognize her from any news sources, did he?

"I gave her that larvesta," a familiar voice called out. "Now leave them be."

The old man stepped away, revealing Burgh and Leavanny's presence. The tension in Hilda's body suddenly went away. Her ally and savior had come through for her once again, giving her much-needed assistance.

"Forgive me. I don't mean to step on the toes of a Gym Leader," the old man insisted. "We have a proper base somewhere else, so we'll be on our way shortly. But first, I feel I should properly explain our plans to you, to… ease confusion for the Gym Leaders. Can anyone tell me the legend surrounding this region's formation?"

Iris studied the ground. "The one about the Great Dragons, right?" she asked. "The Black Dragon and the White Dragon that split apart from a Legendary Pokemon because it couldn't reconcile it's opposing beliefs?"

"Indeed, the Legendary Pokemon that first governed the land could not reconcile it's opposing beliefs- the beliefs of truth and ideals. Was recognizing the faults of the world better than wishing for a better one? That question tore the Legendary Pokemon apart, birthing the Great Dragons Zekrom and Reshiram, and started a war in the region at the same time. Two heroes met with these Dragons, coming together to end the war and unite the land. This was how the region we know today came into being."

Larvesta shifted in Hilda's grasp.

"Don't get us wrong, Gym Leader Burgh. Team Plasma's goal is to create a desirable world, yet this is only possible if we find another hero to unite the land and win people's hearts and minds. It's the only way to build a new world."

Burgh crossed his arms, and Leavanny mimicked the movement.

"We'll be going now," the old man decided. "Try not to get in our way again."

The group nodded, making their way out into the street. Hilda gathered Herdier to her side, hoping that his company would help ease her some more.

Suddenly, the old man muttered, "Oh, and Hilda…"

She stopped in her tracks as he said it, and turned her head to look at him. He did recognize her from the news.

"You seem to have an aura about you," the old man added. "The notion isn't as silly as it may seem. There's a reason Burgh gave you that rare Pokemon, a reason that you keep running into Team Plasma. You may keep whatever Pokemon you've procured from us, but that will do very little against the changing tide that is soon to come. If I'm right, this won't be the last you see of us, so be on your guard."

Hilda hurried away from the old man without another word. That confrontation sent chills down her spine. What had he meant by that? Why did he insist on letting her do things that went against his plans? She hated every part of this.

* * *

Everyone gathered at a nearby Pokemon Center, including Cheren and Bianca. Hilda and Iris recounted the events of that mid-afternoon to everyone, and Bianca gave her account on how those events were allowed to unfold.

Cheren stepped back in shock as she finished, adjusting his glasses. "A krookodile!?" he gasped. "Are you sure it was a krookodile!? It-It wasn't hiding in the shade at all?"

"My Pokedex said it was a krookodile," Bianca sniffled, clutching Munna closely. The pink bean-shaped Pokemon appeared happy in her arms, thankful to be back safe and sound.

Cheren ran his fingers through his hair. "Th-They steal Pokemon, right? M-Maybe he stole that krookodile."

Iris sat back in a chair, arms crossed behind her head. "If what Bianca said was true, and that krookodile listened to that grunt, then that can't be the case. Strong Pokemon don't just obey new Trainers for nothing. That's why trades are so difficult."

Everyone's Pokemon sat with them in the room, with each party member out of their Poke Balls. It seemed almost pedantic- every other Pokemon that Bianca had was still in her grasp at the time of the theft, and neither Hilda nor Iris had been pickpocketed for their Poke Balls. Yet there was something comforting about having everyone there, to see them all there, to know that they were all accounted for.

Hilda hugged Dewott close to her. Though he had been in his Poke Ball for the event, he seemed to understand her discomfort and hugged her back. In spite of what the old man implied, Hilda didn't feel safe from Pokemon kidnappings. She knew she still had to be at the top of her game. She still had to train her Pokemon as much as she could in order to defend them and herself from Team Plasma. And yet, even if she tried her hardest, they weren't going to play fair.


End file.
